Christmas!!

We had such a wonderful Christmas season and it was topped off with a great Christmas!! The day of Christmas eve was cold and blustery which is rare for Phoenix (we've had the ac click on Christmas Day which is absurd). We started out our day by grabbing some hot chocolate and taking it to the park. Peter was very upset with me because I brought him a jacket that did not have a hood (I know, what was I thinking?!?!) Tim, the patient father that he is, fashioned a "hood" out of one of Molly's blanket. Doesn't he look like a little Russian girl?? He was very happy with his hood.

And the boys were super excited to find this decorated tree at the park.

We spent the rest of the day at home relaxing and getting ready for Christmas Eve. Cleaning up and making guacamole and salsa. And then we were off to my parents house for a fun evening.

In an effort to try and change things up a bit and try and prevent fighting and major mess making, I bought each of the kids a little blank book and brought Christmas stickers and washey tape and crayons and the kids "crafted" before dinner. It ended up being a big hit. Mental not for next year. And we did indeed avoid big messes (they like to dump all the toys and complain about picking up) and fighting. It was great!

Chatting before dinner. We had a couple of extra's this year. My old neighbor Evelyn who's know Oliver since he was 18 months came. She came last year. We love including her. And a girl from our ward Amy who didn't go home for Christmas, and then a couple from our ward who had a baby three weeks earlier and also couldn't be with family.

Everyone enjoyed chatting.

Then we all sat down to a delicious dinner. Look at these two cuties with their little center pieces and name places.

These three yahoos sat up at the bar. They're funny!

And then my mom set up two long tables coming out from the dining table so that everyone else had a seat.

The main course was green chili, baked beans, Carolina's tortillas, and tamales with chips, salsa, guac, and a side salad. It was SO GOOD!!! I could eat that meal every week!

We decided that we should coordinate once again. So this is us, wishing you Plaid Tidings!! We think we're pretty funny!

A family picture with Evelyn.

After dinner and pictures the kids did a talent show. Elle and Crew played the piano. Piper and Max sang. Peter sang The Christmas Song (all by himself with limited prompts from me). I was so proud of him and I think he was pleased with himself. I am so sad that we didn't get it on video. And Oliver acted out the scene from Home Alone, mouthing White Christmas in a towel and pretending to put on deodorant and comb his hair and then of course put on after shave and pats his cheeks. Everyone laugh which made him so so so proud. He loved doing it!

Sitting in the front room for the talent show.

And then we did a nativity.

It was pretty sweet. Elle and Cooper were Mary and Joseph and of course Molly was baby Jesus. Crew was a shepherd and Peter was his sheep. Piper was an angel and Oliver, Rhett and Max were the three wise men. They did a pretty good job. It was nice to take time to talk about the real reason for the season. (Take a good look at Max's eyes in this picture, so funny!)

And then someone (Logan) doorbell ditched a present for each of the kids. The boys each got a mixel lego set, Piper got Anna jewelry and I don't remember what Elle got.

The boys had fun putting their mixel's together and while they did that the adults did a white elephant exchange. 

We finished the night with fire works. 

Peter borrowed one of my dads coats. How handsome are my boys?!?

I watched for just a minute and then went inside and watch from the big window with Molly.

We got home and attempted to get a sibling picture in front of the Christmas tree. This was the best one.

There were a lot that looked like this...

And this....Oliver doesn't love holding Molly and she's become super wiggly and hard to hold.

We had a fun Christmas morning. The boys enjoyed opening their stockings and then seeing that Santa had brought Oliver a Mecasaur (a remote control dinosaur that you build) and Peter a Mipasaur (a remote control dinosaur). 

We got this impressive advent calendar from Tim's parents. Tim's dad made it. He's pretty amazing!

Molly had fun watching the boys open their gifts while she sucked on her new banana toothbrush.

Opening gifts.

The beginning of Oliver's Santa gift. There are 700 pieces in there. This is definitely a Dad project. 

The best gift ever!!! Tim got me this and I love love love it!!

Because Christmas was on a Sunday we got to go to church. This makes good sense to me because we are celebrating the birth of the Savior so attending church seems appropriate :) I decided to sing in the ward choir for the month so that I could sing Christmas songs. It was such a great experience and I was able to feel the spirit so strong. As a result though I left Tim alone with the kids Christmas morning for about 45 minutes so I could squeeze in a last minute practice and unfortunately we didn't get a family picture in our Sunday best. I tried to get an after picture of Molly and she was NOT happy about it....

But she looked awfully cute!!!

Tim wore his new Deathly Hallows shirt that I got him for Christmas to my parents house. 

Breakfast was SO GOOD!!! Ham, potatoes, eggs, cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate and orange juice. 

We opened presents after breakfast. It was pretty fun we did a fairly good job controlling the chaos.

Elle sining to Molly with her new karaoke mic and speaker.

Christmas afternoon we played and then came home for an hour to recharge. My siblings went to their in-laws and Tim made my parents, grandparents, Kyle, Logan and I delicious chicken noodle soup. It was a great way to end a great day!

Peter crashed sitting up in my moms bed. So cute to see him so tuckered out.