.:Christmas Day:.

Christmas Day was full of presents, food, and fun! Presents for 26 people is a lot of stuff, and also takes a long time to get through! Traditionally, we started the kids off with their stockings.

All in a row

Chaos!

After stockings, it was time to move on to Santa gifts. Santa definitely came and spoiled the kiddos!

Our girls’ loot from Santa

Growing up, we would go around and watch each person open up a present one at a time. It is fun to see what everyone else got, and also lets the day last a little longer. But obviously that was not going to happen with the kids! So we would set them up with one present at a time and then let them have at it.

Showing off their new dress up shoes

(and a little leg!)

We took a break after the kids’ Santa gifts to have breakfast. We had the usual: bran muffins, bacon, and orange juice. Grandma and Grandpa had a little gift for all of the kiddos.

After breakfast, it was time for the adults to open some of their gifts. Then the kids had some more from Grandma and Grandpa (yes, totally spoiled!)

We spent the rest of the day cleaning up, relaxing, and playing with our new things! It was a wonderful day!

We feel so blessed to be part of a family who loves each other so much and loves to spend time with each other. And thank you to my parents for making it such a memorable Christmas for us and our kids!

.:New House:.

If you somehow missed that we built a house and moved into it, well, we did.

We’ve been in for a few months now, and I’ve had requests to put up pictures for those who don’t live near and haven’t been able to come see it in person. It’s definitely not decorated fully yet, but we are so thrilled to be in a house that we have space to live in. Looking back, I have no idea how we were living in that tiny townhome. I guess you just do what you have to do! It’s been such a blessing for us to move into this house. We are all much happier, and it has felt like home from day one. We were able to stay in the same neighborhood, and we love it where we live.

Enjoy the pictures if you haven’t seen it before, and feel free to skim over if you have!

This is the outside of the house – this picture was taken before we moved in, which you can tell from the freshly laid sod.

Entry way

Coming in the front door

Hallway to bedrooms

Stairs to basement

Josh and I’s room (yes, our dressers are ugly and need to be painted)

Our bathroom

Our closet

Girls’ bathroom

Reece and Remi’s room

Harper’s room

Can you spot the baby?

Living room

Kitchen

And the dining room

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Feel free to come check it out in person!

.:Christmas Eve:.

On Christmas Eve, my parents rented the movie theater and invited some of their local ward friends and their families to come see Monster Inc. with us. We all got our own popcorn and drink as well; I think Harper was the most excited about that!

All of the kids were SO GOOD during the movie. What a treat!

After the movie, we headed back to my parent’s house to get cooking and set the tables for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Before we ate, we decided to let the kids open their cousin gifts to each other. We exchange names, and it was fun to let the older kids help pick out the gifts for their cousins this year!

Evie had to show Harper the ropes with her new toy.

Once we were done stuffing ourselves with prime rib and ham, it was time for the nativity. Typically, this has gotten more irreverant in the past as us adults have gotten older. Luckily the kids are all getting older and we can have them participate. My dad read the nativity story while the kids stood there in their costumes. There were still some giggles, but it was pretty sweet. Remi was feeling a bit moody and didn’t participate, but the rest of the kids did.

After the nativity, the kids got to open up their traditional Christmas Eve jammies from my parents. Pretty cute bunch!

The kids got to open one more gift from Gramzee and Grandpa Paul, which were new books.

Once we put an excited group of kids to bed, the grown ups did their gift exchange and got pajamas as well. The real highlight of the gift giving was this gem of a shirt.

The wings even wrap around to the back.

I love all of our traditions on Christmas Eve. I might even love Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day!