So, This is Christmas...

We had a very full and very wonderful Christmas full of family, friends, parties, and Christmas cheer!  I think Zac counted over 10 Christmas parties that he was invited to attend through work, church, family, and friends.

I adore Zac's co-workers!  After  hearing about my struggles with finding Thanksgiving decorations and resorting to decorating with paper plates, they decided that I am a creative decorating genius.  Our friend Dana stayed late one night and decorated Zac's office with Christmas paper plates for me.

I love her.

We also got a few family parties in.  The kids got to dress up for the Nativity at Grandma Kris and Grandpa Rich's house: 

We had a very enthusiastic sheep this year.

And a less than thrilled shepherd to herd her around.

  In addition to all of the parties we leave the house to enjoy, we have our traditional Zac and Lori Fillmore family party on December 23rd every year.  This is the party where we stay home, the kids get to open a present from their siblings, and we spend all night playing with those presents, playing games, watching movies, and eating snacks... Heaven... we had so much fun.  Bronson begged to sleep with his brother Tanner that night, awesome, I love it when my kids are buddies to each other.  Unfortunately, the lights in my room were rudely flipped on at 2 a.m. that morning by a puke soaked Tanner who was not happy that his brother had unleashed on him.  We got both of the boys clean, bedding clean, and settled in.  And then I was shaken awake at 4 a.m. by Charlotte.  She wanted a bath because something sticky and smelly was encrusted in her hair... vomit.  BOO!  By morning Zac was feeling it too and we weren't going anywhere for Christmas Eve.  The kids were really sad to miss out on a party at Grandma Julie's and Grandpa Bob's with all of their cousins.  But we tried to make it as fun and exciting as we could considering the circumstances.

I got the sickies taken care of and tucked into bed for an afternoon nap and then I took the non-sick big kids out for some sledding and shopping for Christmas Eve snacks.  We had a good time.  And loved watching the grand finale of Ian skiing backwards down the sledding hill and wiping out on a jump.

That night the kids got to open another present from Mom and Dad: 

I couldn't get all six kids together in one picture due to the "stomach bug"

Christmas Jammies!  It was a sports themed year, with the boys getting jerseys and pajama pants of their favorite sports teams!

They were super excited and haven't gotten out of those pajamas for the past week.

Instead of the traditional milk and cookies for Santa this year, the kids decided to leave him some fruit (they thought that sounded like a nice change), some hot cocoa, some carrots for the reindeer, and some cookies from some neighbors that had cranberries, that they wouldn't eat and wanted to get rid of.  I am positive those neighbors don't read this blog, or I would never post that information. 

Then they all piled into Ashlyn's room to get to sleep before Santa came (though Ashlyn was a little reluctant to let the kids who had puked in her room)  But they made it through the night without a problem.

Pukers on the floor and non-pukers on the bed

Dad wanted in on the sleepover too, but I was too lonely, so I made him come back upstairs with me.

Christmas Morning! 

A journal with a lock in Charlotte's stocking

And the big kids got: tablets 

 And most of Christmas was spent with our three oldest looking like this:

Tanner and Ashlyn got some BYU fan shirts to wear at a BYU basketball game that our family gets to attend in a couple of weeks!

She officially has him by an inch in height now!

These two are so silly and crazy.  They are so lucky to have each other.

Whitlee got a baby with a stroller.

She LOVES that baby and it can even go in the bath with her and has her own bath towel and accessories.

Bronson wanted a Curious George puzzle:

And Santa didn't disappoint.  That puzzle is almost as big as Bronson.

Bronson and Whitlee also got one of these:

Power Wheels 4-wheelers

And when all the excitement was done- Mom and Dad remembered that they had forgotten one more present and brought it out:

An ATV Helmet to go with this:

Our very first 4-wheeler!!!

The kids have been working hard with mom and dad as a family these past four months to clean Dad's office.  We have set aside the money to pay for this bad boy.  It was fun to show the kids just what hard work can buy.  They love it.

 

And there it is- Another Christmas shot in the butt!