Christmas Morning

 Christmas morning was great.  Probably the most magical with kids so far.  We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with the Johnson side, going to see Monsters, Inc. in 3D (Sammi's favorite movie) and then went to get our traditional Chinese food...but it was by reservation only this year!  Never fear, though, we wouldn't let that dampen our Christmas Eve.  Dang it, not even that stupid Christmas Shoes song could ruin our evening.  We popped over to Robintino's and had some lovely Italian food instead.

Then we went to my parents' house and exchanged sibling gifts.  And I was extremely cuted out because the kids had picked out sibling gifts for each other at the dollar store.  It was hilarious to see what they picked.  Emerson selected a princess jump rope for Sammi, and she selected a plastic racing cockroach for him.  I would've loved to see her mental process on that one.  Then we came home, opened new Christmas pajamas, read from the scriptures, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and got these cuties to bed.  After all, Santa was on his way!

We have never had a Christmas morning of our own on actual Christmas day, and we were pretty excited about it.  I think staying up with Ben after the kids were in bed, getting everything ready while watching a Christmas movie, is one of my favorite new memories.  Poor Santa spent a lot of time assembling Sammi's dollhouse, or so I heard.  The kids slept in, and we actually had to wake E up because we couldn't keep Sammi contained any longer.

So excited!  They were concerned that they had coal waiting for them in their stockings.

No coal to be found, but lots of egg nog taffy.  (Yuck.) Ben likes it though, and so does E, so there has been some Daddy tax and trading between the kids.

Transformers!

He hearts them.

How did Santa know that the Cowboy needed new boots!?

Santa finally brought E a Lego train of his very own.  He has been eyeing this one at the store and at his friend Isaac's house in Ohio.

This girl was thrilled and has disappeared for hours at a time to her room to play.

 Now, I'm not writing this to brag or to have you judge me for what my kids got for Christmas, but I wish I remembered everything I got when I was a kid, so I am writing a few favorites here for future reference.

Sammi:
-Dollhouse
-Mini Book of Mormon with cute cover
-Princess movies
-Ariel shoes
-Ariel music box
-Minnie Mouse dress up doll
-Pinkalicious books
-Princess Barbies (from Grandma & Grandpa J)
-Princess Bouncing Ball (from Uncle Scott & Aunt Ashley)
-Ariel blanket, personalized (from Sorenson cousins)
-Coloring books and stickers (from Grandpa Tom & Grandma Dixy)

Emerson:
-Transformers
-Mini Book of Mormon (When he opened his he said, "Oh! Now I can read about a Child of God in my head all by myself!")
-Cowboy boots
-Lego Train
-Pirate books
-Lego Hospital (from Grandma & Grandpa J)
-Bucky the Pirate Ship (from Grandma & Grandpa J)
-Lego Pirate Ship Game (from Uncle Scott & Aunt Ashley)
-Lightning McQueen blanket, personalized (from Sorenson cousins)
-Batman action figure (from Grandpa Tom & Grandma Dixy)

Ben and I also had a great Christmas.  We both agreed that this was the most magical Christmas so far.  It's so fun to have kids just the perfect age to enjoy everything with very few expectations.

After opening presents at our own house, my parents and sisters drove down to see the kids' loot and joined us for Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls and ham and egg cups (from Our Best Bites...so dang good.)  Then they headed home and we visited the Christensen side and exchanged gifts with them.  We managed to catch all the married kids for at least a few minutes before rushing around to our respective in-laws' houses.  After visiting the Christensens, we headed to the Johnsons' house to be there for Uncle Brad's phonecall from Milwaukee.  We were really excited to talk to him, and it's hard to believe he only has like 8 months left of his mission!  He was extremely freaked out by how well Sammi talks.

After the phonecall, we had a lovely dinner of Honeybaked ham, and finished out the evening with Italian sodas and red velvet cupcakes.  Then we headed home to enjoy Christmas night and get the kids to bed after an exhausting but magical day.