Are we ready for another Christmas?
Dad has really dedicated himself to this new tradition of baking a gingerbread cake every year. The kids enjoy helping him decorate it, and it tastes pretty good with a side of eggnog (or so they tell me).
But while we explore new holiday traditions, we don't want to forget about the traditions of old.
This year only ONE of my kids wrote a letter to Santa...
Ah yes, leave it to Chelsea to bring some holiday humor to the table. She cracks us up!
So, what happened to the rest of them?
Too busy to write a letter?
Too old to believe anymore?
We weren't sure if Leah was ever going to ask about the magic of Santa, and since she didn't write a letter this year we decided it was time to share the secret. We borrowed a tip from another brilliant parent and wrote her this letter:
She seemed to take the news pretty well, and was excited about helping with the stockings on Christmas Eve. But it's still a little sad when you realize you're growing up, and the magic of childhood isn't as magical anymore.
For some reason it has been challenging for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year. We waited until the last minute to put up our tree and decorations (hoping that our insurance would approve the repairs to the broken upstairs bathroom so we could have it fixed before the holidays, but we're STILL waiting). Luckily, Grandma Jody helped us get into the true spirit of Christmas by serving Christmas Eve dinner and sharing a wonderful story about the birth of our Savior.
Each of the kids got some wonderful gifts that represented light, guidance, and a little bit of fun.
It was a fun night with Uncle Joe and Aunt Stephanie's family there with us. Uncle Joe entertained us with some "original" music while we waited for people to open their gifts.
Leah got to help with the stockings that night, and even took the liberty of eating the cookie and "drinking" the milk (or pouring it down the sink since she's not a fan of milk). I'm sure the "real" Santa didn't mind not getting to eat his cookie this year...
The kids must really be growing up this year, because WE had to get THEM out of bed instead of them coming to wake us up. There seems to be some Christmas confusion around here...
The kids exchanged gifts with their siblings, and then Leah got started opening her "Santa" gift...
A box... inside of a box...
...inside of another box...
Jeeze... thanks Dad!
Only one thing could have shocked Leah into making this face...
A Virtual Reality headset?!?!?
And then there was Jacob's reaction...
But sure enough, Leah got what she had hoped for.
Poor Jacob. He has been asking for a VR headset for several years now, and watching his sister receive the gift of his dreams was pretty difficult.
Shaelyn offered him her condolences...
Don't trust it Leah! Dad's been known to pull pranks like this before!
Some day your dreams will come true, bud.
But anyway... moving on!
Chelsea was the lucky recipient of the chained up gift challenge this year.
Dad gave her a series of puzzles to solve in order to figure out the combination numbers to open the lock.
Each scripture had an arrow pointing to a letter, which he had to unscramble and came up with CHAPLN.
Where have I seen that before?
Ah! Dad's license plate.
But we're proud of how well you controlled your jealousy over your little sister's gift, only to receive later what you had secretly hoped for as well.
I think he feels much better now.
There were no puzzles or tricks for Shaelyn this year.
She's done with games and ready to move on.
We decided to help her get ready for college this upcoming year by giving her what every college student needs...
...I'm sure she'll figure out how to put it to good use...
Yeah, we probably won't see those two very much for the next few days...
...Her very own personal laptop...
Meanwhile, back in virtual reality land...
I guess it's just us and the dog now, right Coco?
We hope all our friends and family had a very merry Christmas, and we wish you all a happy New Year!
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