Christmas

 We had a wonderful holiday season.  It was so great and so busy.

The Real Santa came to preschool and the kids got to sit on his lap.  At the first of the season Teagan was asking for "All of the transformers and all of the superheros" so I talked to him about being greedy vs grateful for anything.  It was so sweet to hear him tell Santa, "I changed my mind, I just want one transformer now."

 This is a good time for me to insert my opinion...what kind of a generation are we creating that thinks they can ask Santa for anything under the sun and he always brings it, that's not magic, that's greedy.  When I was a kid I didn't ask for anything (I did when I started getting older), but I just remember being so excited to see what he was going to bring.  It was always so magical because he always found the PERFECT present.  There were no long lists of requests, we just waited to see what we got and  I think it was more magical than getting exactly what you ask for.

Anywho...we had lots of Christmas parties, one with friends, one at my Dad's house (no pics...) and an Ugly Sweater Party with my mom at our house....all in one week and it was a little too much, next year we need to spread it out or combine it all in one because we were spent.

Teagan and his cousins performed "Up on the Housetop."  It was so cute.

 He also did a trumpet solo, he practiced all day.  It was beautiful.

 We only got to have my mom for a couple days, but we loved it while she was here!  This was Christmas Eve.

The highlight for me was Teagan's preschool program.  My aunt does such a good job with all the kids.  The outfits alone were fabulous.  Teagan loved performing for us and Grandma and Grandpa Daniels.  

 Our cute Christmas kids on the Sunday before Christmas.  I can't believe Eloise has already mastered the cheeser smile.  Teagan insisted on a red vest with a green tie for a few Sundays leading up to Christmas, a boy after my own heart.

Christmas morning was a blast!  Santa built some stuff out of legos to show off the presents, he LOVED it!  

 The pre-runing downstairs crew.  

Teagan was SO excited to see that he got the transformer he asked for (maybe I'm wrong about the whole getting what you ask for thing because he was thrilled).

I think Ellie was really excited to be standing up, the shopping cart was nice too.

They both got new winter hats, you can see Teagan's in the back.  Love those kiddos!

After we opened presents and had breakfast we went up to Teton Valley to spend the day with the Daniels' family.  Ellie sure loves her grandpa, I wish I had taken more pictures.  We all had a great time having a delicious dinner and playing "the game of things."  

This year I think we learned that you don't have to do everything with everyone at Christmas time.  It's just too much and hard to remember the real reason that we celebrate Christmas.  I'm not sure how, but next year I want to put a LOT more focus on the birth of our Savior and a lot less on all the "stuff" of the season.  More time with my sweet kids and amazing hubby.