christmas 2015

this was our first sight when we all came out on christmas morning.  a pair of boots for everyone in the family!

we got everyone lined up with them on.

i just love the tiny boots for bonnie - especially with the wyoming cowboy on the bottom.

cody was a bit disappointed for a minute that he didn't get everything on his list right away, but he got over it pretty quick when we talked about all the fun things he got and would be able to open.

after they checked out their stockings, cody and isaac found a note santa left for them.

'dear cody, isaac, and bonnie,

thank you for the cookies.  they were so yummy.  some of the best i've eaten.  the reindeer loved the carrots.  it gave them energy for flying.  i helped myself to some milk from the fridge.  isaac, sorry i used the yellow cup.  enjoy your presents.

merry christmas.

love, santa'

the boys always get some dinosaur oatmeal in their stockings, so we take a quick break to eat some before we start on presents.  no one likes a too hungry boy when were trying to have fun.

bonnie got to open her presents first all in a row so she could take her nap.  she would have been just as happy to stay up and play with the now-reachable christmas tree.

there was some time to play our new game from santa, too.  robot face race.

cody's favorite color is black lately, so we got him a black hat and black suitcase.  he loves space too, so he got a black shirt with rockets on it.  isaac has loved yellow for months and months, so we got him a yellow shirt, hat, and suitcase.  then he decided on christmas eve that he liked pink and purple....  hopefully we can talk him into liking yellow a bit again.

they had so much fun checking out all their new stuff all morning.  i love being able to be home and relax and stay in jammies as long as you want on christmas day.  we had our usual big, tasty breakfast and then did mostly nothing all morning.

we did convince the boys to get dressed eventually before david's family and grandma and grandpa came up.

annie and i had fun trying out new hair styles each day she was here.  maybe someday bonnie's hair will be long enough to do fun stuff with.

each of the siblings got copies of the old trios that we used to play.  mostly annie, beth, and david played the trios while i turned pages, but over time i subbed in for someone or the other and learned how to play each of them.  we easily jumped in and played 'triple dip' but the others will take some work.

we went down to david's house the day after christmas for dinner and games.  its so fun to have them close, especially since we can share visits from family.  isaac found some mittens in one of the girl's buckets and we tried them on bonnie.  she actually really seemed to love them.  she wore them for a long time and kept waving her fingers.

annie stayed with us until sunday.  dad drove up to go with us to church and then took annie back down to david's with him on monday.  they both stayed until wednesday.  grandma will stay for a few weeks to help julie out.  what a fun christmas to have extra family here and what a fun reason to have them here - to meet little sam!