The Gifts of Christmas

Christmas morning was so cute this year.

Sister woke up first and Marc and I laid in bed as we listened intently to her exclamations of joy and her squeals of excitement.

Usually Santa has ALL the gifts wrapped under the tree but this year many of the gifts were left unwrapped with name tags only.

I love hearing Sister get excited, not only about her things, but about her siblings' gifts too.

We were so blessed to have a secret Santa bring us some much needed items for the kids along with some really fun things too. It was fun for Marc and I to be surprised right alongside the children as the gifts were revealed.

Baby was in heaven with all her My Little Pony characters.

Sister couldn't have been happier about her Pokemon cards and Angry Birds blanket.

Brother finally got his long awaited requested gift of a Lava Lamp!

I know the secret Santa was up on the coolness factor because he not only got some cool Converse shoes for Baby, stylish Sunday shoes for Brother and the fancy pants for Sister but he brought Marc and I some really nice perfume and cologne!

Baby decided that the ponies could play her new baby baby grande

Marc's dream came true when I was able to take on a big Photo job and bought him an awesome Black Friday special of a GoPro Camera. I am excited to show you all the things he has already used it for! I know he was totally spoiled, but I love him and I really wanted to do something special for him.

See that really cool surf board with the turtle on it in the bottom left hand corner?
Ya, that one. My sister Kirsten and Brother in law, Jeremy made that for Marc! A-MA-ZING!!! Kirsten made me an awesome jewelry frame to hang my eating on! They went crazy with the homemade gifts this year!

Marc surprised me with a very beautiful Liahona necklace... I know to those who are not LDS (Mormon) that sounds really strange. Liahona means "compass" and it has spiritual meaning for members of the LDS church. The necklace was a beautiful gesture, and I adore it.

The kids were excited about the treats Santa left this year. He usually leaves all the candy in their stockings but he's learned that they just like having it all in one big stock pile anyway.

Baby stole the bag of peanut butter M&M's after I took this picture and I found them in her room... I guess next year Santa will bring her her own bag!

After our Christmas morning and Christmas breakfast of homemade waffles came to an end we headed out to Marc's parents house to celebrate with his family!

So many fun and creative gifts were given and exchanged. It was fun to see eyes light up when they saw something new just for them in the box or bag.

Our cousins, Cathy and Jerry, were there to celebrate with us too. They even brought some awesome gifts for the kids! So thoughtful!

Brother, Kelsey, Sister, Bryan, Amy, Frank and Gary all waiting for the gift unwrapping to begin!

This little lion chair brought much delight that day as we laughed watching Baby try to hug and sit on it at the same time. She had a few mishaps and roll-overs but she finally has it down now. Thanks Cathy and Jerry for the chair of cheer! (wink)

Sister was so excited to sit by her "used-to-be-sister" (that's what she calls her when she is talking to us about her)

Brother got this cool book from Cathy and Jerry too, but I am sad to say that Sister has claimed it as her own.
Brother had the Christmas spirit with him still so he was OK with that. They look and search together anyway.

"Fluttershy!!!" Was all Baby could yell when she opened her gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Sister was quite excited about the remote control car grandma got for her! It was just like Brother's that he got from Santa!

Everyone had fun opening their gifts. 

And then it was over...

We went upstairs and started eating the great spread of food that Lynne had prepared for all of us and were surprised with some special guests we haven't seen in a long time friends that we love!

We had so much fun playing games and talking and eating! Loved it!

So our gifts of Christmas weren't actually just the ones that were listed above...

We were blessed with the gifts of charity, love, family, friends, and the wonderful knowledge that all these gifts are celebrated yearly because of our Savior Jesus Christ.

A belated, but Merry Christmas!