The kids woke us up at 7am and we made them wait while we, and grandma and grandpa got up and moving a bit.  There was some sort of fight among the kids that ended with Blake in his bed crying and refusing to come out and see what Santa brought.  It was really sad!  Finally we convinced him to come and the kids raced into the family room.  It’s always such a magical moment to see their cute faces light up in wonder when they see the gifts.  Santa was good to us this year!  Echo dots, smart plugs, and Fingerling Monkeys for all!  The kids are so excited to listen to Spotify in their rooms and be able to turn out their lights just by asking Alexa!  Mom and Dad think it’s fun to “drop in” on the kids in their rooms to tell them stuff or call them to dinner.  Santa also brought them a cartoon picture of their favorite stuffed animal.  Or in Josh’s case, favorite made-up creature.

All the kids also got Harry Potter Funko Pops.  Halle got Luna Lovegood in her lion head, Josh got Draco, and Blake got Professor Snape.

Josh has been counting down the days until he got his iPad!  He paid $200 and Rusty and I paid the other $50 and got him a case.  He is totally thrilled.  He also got a light up frisbee, an emoji sequin mermaid pillow and a holographic cube.

Blake got lots of games.  Mancala and Hiss from us.  He also got the Captain Underpants series, a sequin emoji pillow and a holographic cube.

Halle had a few little things to open, but her real present happened a few weeks ago in NYC.  I made her a chatbook of all our fun adventures in the City to surprise her with Christmas morning.  She also got a cute necklace with her name and a hilarious American Girl Doll Beaver for Kaya.

Rusty got a new iphone 8, Star Wars Risk (which Blake LOVES to play), a new yoga towel and I totally surprised him with tickets to see Trevor Noah.

I got a Smart Wool shirt (soooo excited about this!) the Humans of New York book, a Kindle Fire and an under counter mount so I can use it in the kitchen and I also got a new yoga towel.  Great christmas for me!!  But no pics 🙂

Next was the stocking hunt!  The elves did a good job this year.  Those sneaky guys managed to hide the stockings under their beds!

Favorite stocking gifts this year included the Harry Potter “Sorting Hat” bath bomb and these cute Santa $2 bills.

Carlie invited us over to her house for a delicious Christmas brunch. We had yummy breakfast casserole, Christmas tree pancakes, Grinch kabobs and hot chocolate  It was so fun to see the girls in their element on Christmas Morning.  They all had a great time playing Soggy Doggy.

Gwen and Mave also got Fingerlings and Gwn took a picture of them all with her new camera.

She also drew this adorable card.  I just love her!

The festivities continued in the evening at the Banks house.  Sharon gave them all little Christus statues and we talked about how we could be the hands of Jesus.  I love that they have a little reminder to keep in their room. 

Opening presents from cousins and grandma and grandpa was so much fun. We haven’t been all together at Christmas for YEARS, and all the kids are getting so grown up!  Aubry stole the show with her gift to Bridger.  It was a big box and then inside it kept getting smaller and smaller boxes until finally there was a little note that said to look under a chair.  There was another box and the laughs continued until Bridger made his way down to an itunes giftcard.

Halle got an awesome Mermaid Pillow from Grandma and Grandpa and a cute Niffler Funko Pop from her cousins.

Josh got a giant Turtle from Grandma and Grandpa and a magnetic sculpture toy from his cousins.

Blake got Monopoly Empire and a stuffed Moose he fell in love with at our resort over Thanksgiving.  He begged Grandma to buy it for him for Christmas.  He also got a hamster car for Chippy from his cousins

We ended the evening watching slides from the early 1980s.  Blake had stumbled across a book of slides while he was playing up in Grandpa’s room.  Rusty tracked down a projector at my house and set it all up. All the kids thought it was so great to see Rusty, Cory and Brett as little kids.  And I think the brothers enjoyed remembering all the fun things that filled their childhood.  What a lovely Christmas!