Christmas Morning....oh dark 30

We had an unusual Christmas morning this year. Usually we are up at oh dark 30 but Bria and Ada slept in till 8:30. Normally I am waking my children up because that is what Christmas morning is all about waking up early. This year we have all been feeling a little yucky so the sleep did us some good. Anyway, Santa came and provided some great surprises for everyone, even though Bria our special 5 year old, unwrapped Christmas a week and a half ago. I'll blog more about that later (See post Character).
Our tradition for Christmas morning is to designate someone to be Santa and distribute the gifts to the rightful owners. We preheat the oven for our quiche and all settle in amongst our pile of gifts. Santa gets to tell the order we go in and one by one we each open a gift after eying what the one before us received. I love this method because it makes Christmas a bit longer and everyone gets to see what others are receiving or gets to see their face as they open the gift you gave. I have never been "a go overboard with Christmas" kind of gal. I set a budget on a sliding scale according to age and pretty much stay within the perimeters I set for myself. I know I sound like a control freak but budgets are important to me. Each girl receives about 5 gifts and there might be a few family gifts.

Our first glimpse of Christmas morning

Malia was our Santa this year. Each of the girls had fun unwrapping their gifts and acting surprised for my benefit(which was so kind)
Santa always sends the girls on a scavenger hunt to find the final gift. Santa had some brain cramps this year and didn't do the best job with clues but it's the thought that counts right? I love this part of Christmas morning the most, seeing these gifts opened up  are typically the best gift of the season in terms of wants and desires.

Here is Malia opening up her BYU sweatshirt. She was given one for her birthday but it was stolen at school so Santa brought a replacement.

Sierra received OPI nail polish and some very much needed makeup items. She also received a makeup brush set from Victoria Secret.

and Teesh received slippers(my old ones) which is why she is laughing. I crack myself up with my humor. She loves my old ratty slippers so I wrapped them up and gave myself her new UGG slippers and gave her my old ones. Her face is priceless. She is such a good sport to go along with my shenanigans. I eventually gave her the new slippers and happily took back my ratty ones that I have severely missed.

Malia actually received two surprises this year. The second was a 4th generation IPOD touch. She was thrilled.

Bria received a doll with matching clothes. I loved seeing this because it brought back memories of my Christmas mornings. My mom made me multiple outfits that matched my dolls and I loved it. Now I am not a seamstress, like my dear sweet mother, so the elves helped produce the clothes and everyone was happy. Here is Bria with her new nightgown and baby in arms.

Ada also received matching clothes with her baby. She looked at the outfit and informed us, "My baby doesn't want to be matching with me" and promptly went to get a different dress as to make sure there was no matching. 

Enjoying our gifts! Teesh received a laptop but I didn't get any pictures and Corby got two new coats. One casual and one dressy(he so needed them, his coat is almost 20 years old)
All in all it was a great Christmas yet again. I think we are blessed beyond measure and have so much to be grateful for. I received Clarissa and have been loving getting familiar with all her features.

Merry Christmas

Deliciousness! I put some spinach and mushrooms in a portion of this creation because there are some family members who don't appreciate the finer things of life. This stuff is so yummy, but takes an hour and a half to cook so we only eat it occasionally.What a great day! Now I am relaxing on the couch until New Years. I did all the shopping, wrapping, cooking, preparing this year.  Corby has been studying for a beast examine and needed the extra time to study. I am looking forward to the rest of the time off regular schedules and seeing my husband a bit more. He takes his examine on Friday the 28th, fingers crossed!