Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 turned out very well for us.
We were able to spend some time with both sides of the family the Thursday and Friday before, and then Christmas eve night and Christmas day we spent with just the 5 of us, it was great.

We have a tradition every year where the kids get to open 1 present on Christmas Eve and it's always pajamas. They get to wear them to bed, and then hang out in them all the next day (unless they want to change). It's fun now that they are getting old enough to realize it's a tradition.
With the kids all snug in their beds, "Santa" came, and he ate the cookies and drank the milk that the kids had left for him.
Most of the presents are from us, the kids just get 1 Santa gift, we like the really cool stuff to come from us. But Santa brought the pillow pets that the girls wanted!

We went to bed around midnight, excited for the kids to come running in our room all excited in the morning. That's not exactly how it went.

We tell them that if they get up before us, they can get their stockings and any unwrapped presents but not to touch the rest til we are all ready.

We woke up hearing "Pillow pets Hannah!!!" and excited jumping around.

We looked at the clock, 1:40 am! Brad went up to tell them it was way too early and go back to bed, but he let them take the pillow pets with them.

Later on when we were all officially up, Brad made breakfast while I got a small turkey ready for the crock pot for our Christmas dinner.

The kids played with their stocking stuff and were surprisingly not impatient. I think we even ate breakfast before opening any presents.

The kids all got some great stuff and they loved it all, here are some of the highlights.

7 piece Disney princess doll set, for both of the girls to share.

A few days before this, Hannah saw some barbies in a catalog and said "Mom, we really need some more barbies around here" Little did she know these were already in the closet.

New pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Ericksen

Hannah loves this game, it's great because she is learning how to read and this is not only educational but fun.

Both girls got a Cabbage Patch surprise newborn baby. They have both been on a baby doll kick lately, mostly Abby. They had 1 baby doll they shared, now they each have their own. The girls were excited to open the packages to see if they got boy or girl dolls. They both turned out to be girls.

This is one of their favorite gifts, and one I'd been planning for over a year. A Leapfrog Leapster (to share). It's a handheld video game system for little kids, and all the games are fun and educational at the same time. They got 6 games for it too.

This is one of the best games that Abby got. It's a matching game that has oreo looking cookies that come apart and there are shapes inside to match up and put back together like a puzzle.

Josh had a blast opening presents, he loves everything he got, including this cool dump truck. Notice the slide in the background too. That's probably his most favorite. He likes to slide cars and trucks down it too.

This is a cool little Leapfrog cell phone. It teaches counting and has cute music. The girls like it a lot too.

Josh's pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Ericksen

These cars are probably his next favorite, you push a button to send them down the tracks at the same time. He has figured out how to do it all himself and he laughs and laughs.

We didn't take any pictures of each other, but Brad got me some movies, a cd, and a chocolate orange. I got him some movies and some shirts. We gave the biggest gift to ourselves on Black Friday, we got a new desktop computer, we love it!

The day, and following days were full of lots of fun and relaxation. Brad didn't have to work at Walmart except for 2 small shifts and he was out of school for winter break of course. We had lots of fun playing with the kids, relaxing and watching movies, and just enjoying all being together.

Oh, and we had a yummy dinner too, turkey and potatoes, and double layer pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

We really couldn't have asked for anything more.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas too!