Christmas 2014

This was honestly to me one of the best Christmases I can remember. Not even just like the whole "Christmas season," but the actual day was like out of a dream. It was AMAZING!!! Now when Christmastime rolls around I am SO grateful that I'm not working and so crazy busy anymore. I honestly had so much time this year to just enjoy the holidays. My cards were done early, neighbor gifts....early, shopping....some of it early. But just peace all around. "Peace" is definitely the best way to describe this year.

We had a great ward Christmas breakfast/talent show. We even had a visit from Santa which is always fun! Josh didn't want to get too close to Mrs. Claus though.

 Okay, here's a random shot of the "glasses brigade." Too school for cool.  Yep, you read that right.

 I really wanted a cute picture by the tree. This wasn't what I envisioned....but it was the best one we got. It's a good thing they're cute.

 I got about one shot before it turned to this....

After much bribing, Rachel has finally taken a liking to the piano!  Yay!! And we're not even fighting about it! I just have to remember that this girl is completely motivated by treats and rewards. Why didn't I think of that sooner? She is sounding awesome and I'm loving every minute of it!

 Looks like we're all packed for the cabin trip!

 For some reason William has been pulling out his ties lately and wearing them all the time. I'm sure someone put him up to this.

 We made our trip down to "the city." It's been so warm this year that it wasn't too bad! The lights were amazing as usual.

 

 

On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa Schick's house for dinner. It was fun to be there with everyone (minus the Roberts.....not that it was fun to not have the Roberts....we were just missing the Roberts.....does that make sense?). Trav did sneak out for a bit to visit the cemetery with his mom to visit his dad's grave. A cool tradition that I hope they keep up and I want to go next time.

 The house is all ready for Santa to come! The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, milk and cookies and carrot sticks on the counter. We even sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn. We are good to go!

 One of the best gifts of all was a white Christmas!!! It was like 50 degrees on Christmas Eve, the forecast said we'd have a white Christmas but I totally didn't believe it.  But we woke up to several inches of snow!! Not only that it snowed like all day so we got a good amount of snow. See? What did I tell ya? This was a dreamy Christmas!

The kids are even eager to help shovel for the first couple times.

 William and his burpy.....2 peas in a pod.

 Get back to work!

 But besides having the gift of snow....Santa definitely didn't miss our house. I think his sled accidentally tipped over in our front room and extra toys got left. Holy schmoley!

A little before 7:00 am we hear pitter patter of little feet and whispering coming down the hall. You could just feel the excitement in the air! (And Cheers to not waking up super early!)

 Kate got the puppy she's been asking for. I don't think they've been separated at all since the second she woke up that morning.

 Josh got a gear bike! He's going to look totally awesome riding that bad boy to school.

 Kate also asked for a "goo set." She was really excited about it. I, apparently, have something in my eye.

 Trav got some new hiking boots.

 Kate was trying to pass out gifts to people but wouldn't put Puppy down (yes, that's his name.) It made the task a little more difficult.

 After the rest of us were done William finally woke up and had a little Christmas of his own. He LOVED it! It was so magical!

 Will would cheer every time a little compartment opened. I know he looks kind of ticked in this picture but it's actually a "Heyyyyyyy!!"

 The "after" picture....

 We had a yummy breakfast, the rest of the morning was spent building LEGO's and me finishing reading the 7th Harry Potter book to the kids. We did it! We read the whole series! How fun to end it on Christmas day. I'm telling you....the day was dreamy!

 Twinners!!

 Kate also had asked for a giant tub of Cheese balls. Santa did not disappoint!

 Grandma Maughan came for a visit to see all our stuff (we had a LOT more than shown in the pictures....I even got new pots and pans!!!!! I'm seriously so excited about this. I was spoiled ROTTEN this year! I think everyone was)

We had a homemade roll, ham and funeral potato dinner. Mmmmmm. So delicious and the perfect ending to a perfectly dreamy day! Merry Christmas!!!