Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We had a great Christmas and end of December and can hardly believe that a new year is upon us. A few nights before Christmas we headed out to Tuacahn to watch the live Nativity and see Santa. I was glad we went even though it was cold. It is always nice to get past all of the craziness and to remember what this season is really about so we can focus on the Savior and his birth. The girls loved seeing all of the animals and hearing the story. This is the first year that Ady hasn't cried or at least been really nervous about seeing Santa. Sadie & Stockton were perfectly fine.

Our Christmas Eve was busy as usual with breakfast in the morning and then trying to get things finished up for the day.

Lydia, Aunika, Stockton, Ady, & Emma having fun at the Hunt family party.

We started off at Ben's family Christmas party for dinner and then we headed over to my family party for a little program. Ady learned a cute little poem about Santa but when it was her turn to say it she got too nervous so I had to say it for her:)

Sadie just hanging out in the walker.

Emma getting ready to play Mary in the nativity story.

Ady lounging on the floor listening to the pretty music.

Stockton having fun rolling around smiling for everybody!

Landon, Alli, & Emma playing Joseph, the Angel, and Mary in the nativity story. Aren't they so cute?! I love how quietly they are standing there.

We always open presents from the cousins to each other and all of our sibling gifts on Christmas eve so that we can see everybody open their presents. We always go youngest to oldest so Stockton got to go very first. He wasn't really sure what to do but had fun watching everybody else trying to help him.

Sadie was next and also got lots of help!

Emma opening her present.

Ady learning how to use her new watch...now we just need to work on helping her tell time:)

The three older girls enjoying the party!

For Christmas this year Ben gave to my oldest brother and decided to make him a giant lighted "Y". It turned out looking really good and we surprised my brother. He got a little nervous when we told him that he had to go outside for his present...but I think he liked what he saw:)

Stockton was asleep when we got home Christmas Eve so we just got the girls in front of the tree this year.

Christmas morning! We had to wait just a few minutes for Grandma & Grandpa Beckstrom to show up so they could open presents with us. We kept the girls in our bedroom until they showed up. They were getting really anxious to go and see if Santa had come.

Ady & Emma coming out to look under the tree.

Emma checking out her new bike from Santa!

Sadie & Stockton hanging out with grandma. They weren't sure what to think about everything:)

We kept putting presents in front of them but they would just roll and around and grab paper or other items off of the floor.

Stockton getting his cougar pillow pet.

My mom was a little worried that my dad hadn't gotten her anything, but we had done a good job of hiding the gifts he had gotten her. I had gone with him earlier in the week to get her a new sewing machine and then we just put it under my tree so my mom wouldn't know. It was a huge surprise and she was happy with her present...even if she was a little unhappy the night before:)

Ady bought all of us presents at her school store and was sooo excited about them. This is the hat that she bought for Stockton...I think he likes it but it is too bad that it is already too small for him! It says "New Brother" on it and she bought one (that is also too small) for Sadie that says "New Sister" on it.

Sadie was happy with a box of tissues!

Ady and Emma playing Ady's new Leappad that she got for Christmas.

Me enjoying my blanket and a good book.

Sadie and Stockton enjoying the mess they got to roll around in.

Emma got these 3D glasses for Christmas from a cousin and Stockton loved them. We thought that he looked quite stylish in them:)

Emma and Ady wearing their new night gowns that they got from their grandma Neumann.

One of the gifts to the granddaughters at grandma Neumann's house was a bunch of finger nail polish...there were also some fake nails.

They were excited to get their fake nails on but there was a down side...they could no longer go to the bathroom by themselves because they couldn't pull their pants up or wipe! I was glad when they only lasted a few hours:)

On Monday we had a little basketball challenge. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of people there. The babies were really good and just played on the floor most of the time. My kids really don't fall asleep while being help so Stockton was obviously very tired. He didn't get fussy at all he just dozed off while my cousin, Kassara, was holding him...it was really cute:)

On Friday Ben's family came over to our house to watch the BYU bowl game. I don't have a large home so we were packed in their but everybody had a good time.

And thankfully BYU pulled it off in the end!

Ben had the whole week off of work and it was nice to just be home. He spent time each day exercising. This is him getting ready to go out on a bike ride.

2012!

I have decided that New Year's Eve just isn't quite the same when you have little kids...and lots of them. We hung out and played games with my family until about 9:30, had a new year's toast with sparkling cider and then everybody headed home. We got home a little after 10:00, got the kids to bed, stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop, and then turned the TV off and went to bed. It was a fun day but not quite the party that we did before we had kids!

The girls had so much fun playing with cousins and having sleepovers. It was a great Christmas!