Christmas '09

This Christmas was really lovely. Both of the boys enjoyed seeing the lights and decorations, making ornaments and cookies, and opening presents. Elliott even got in on the wrapping this year and pulled a book off our bookshelf and wrapped it for Pappy. It was really sweet of him.

We made a Jesse Tree this year - reading scriptures from Creation through the birth of Jesus and coloring an ornament with a symbol for each story. It was a little chaotic though.

Elliott was most excited about presents this year. He got his long-awaited Handy Manny Motorcycle from his great-grandparents. On Christmas morning, he opened his very own little MP3 player and headphones - that was quite a hit. Matt had loaded it with his favorite songs. All of his cousins braved the cold that evening to come see it in our van. It's so nice that the boys have cousins to grow up with! Aaron got some of his own tools and a medical kit that we've been using on the stuffed animals.

We hosted our annual New Year's party and got to catch up with friends and enjoy some adult conversation. We're thankful for grandparents who are so happy to watch our kids! As usual, Matt took off the week between Christmas and New Year's so we had a full 11 days of Daddy being home. It was nice to have some time to relax after all the events on Christmas. I think Matt was ready to return to work though!

We're thankful for a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to 2010!