Merry Christmas!

This is the calm before the storm. Santa arrived and we made the kids wait until 7:30 to come down the stairs. We did enjoy torturing them a little making them wait while we put in our contacts and got the camera ready. But then the fun began.....

My mom always said it takes weeks and weeks to get Christmas ready and it is over in minutes. I know now how she feels. Our family room and house were so clean and within 30 minutes it looked like a tornado had hit. Megan was excited about her i-Pod and hair accessories.

Tyler was happy with his watch and Lego pile.

I love this reaction of Emily to her "giant" Webkinz and the penguin pillow pet. She was thrilled she had more stuffed animals to add to her menagerie.

The carnage. And to think it is only 8:00 am. We all had a great morning.

Tyler had a card table set up right after he got dressed to begin putting his Lego sets together. He wasted no time in getting into his gifts.

Emily and Megan ripped into their Pixos and Paperonis. We used to only watch PBS and the kids never saw commercials. They have branched out to other stations and suddenly want everything advertised. Tyler, Megan, and Emily are definitely suckers for the commercials----I guess I should say we are since we actually purchase them.

We all got ready and then headed to Grandma Grace's house for Christmas breakfast. I have been doing this my entire life and we all look forward to squishing into her basement and eating really yummy food. She even still buys presents for every grandchild and great-grandchild. I've lost count on how many that is.

Grandma and Megan after our tummies were full and the presents had been opened.

From Grandma's house it was on to Mammy's house for more presents. Tyler was in awe of Jeff's presents from Santa. Jeff got the Lego Death Star which is Tyler's dream. I told Tyler he had to be a lot older and his Lego sets were plenty for a 9-year-old. Tyler now gets the joy of watching Jeff put it all together.

Emily was in heaven when she opened her bumpits. If you haven't seen the infomercial, they are things that go in hair to bump up where ever you need more lift. They really do look hilarious in since you can see the plastic sticking out of the hair. Both Emily and Megan have been waiting months for these contraptions and Mammy delivered.

O.K. We are the epitomy of an infomerical family. Here the kids have donned their Snuggies. They were so excited to get them---and just for the record they actually use them. I have told them they can't where them outside as advertised on the box.

Megan and Emily with their bump-its in.

From Mammy's we left to eat lunch at Wendell's parent's house. They had a magic show by cousin Corbin, singing by cousins Chase and Cayden, and the Christmas story read by Wendell. We then all ate the traditional ham and potatoes for lunch. The kids always like comparing gifts and checking out the new goods everyone got.

And finally, we made it back home to have dinner at our house with Grandpa Tom, Jeff, and Mammy. Tyler was thrilled to get to work on his Legos again. The rest of us were happy to play all the new games we all got. A great day with family. I was reminded how blessed we are. Merry Christmas!