Christmas is Here!!

I forgot how truly difficult it is for a child to wait for Christmas to arrive. Every night before tucking the girls in to bed I hear, "mommy, is it Christmas yet?"  Now that Christmas has finally come, I will probably have to change my answer from, "soon, sweetie, to.... not for a very long time sweetie."
We actually were expecting the girls to get up at the crack of dawn to awaken us from our much-needed slumber to start opening presents.  Luckily, they did let us sleep in a little.  We made some pancakes for breakfast and then let the festivities begin.  It was our first Christmas together as a new family!!  Such a wonderful memory :)
The girls started out with their overstuffed stockings.  Lots of treats and little toy surprises to discover inside!

McKel finds some stocking candy and busts it open!

Chocolate!  Kid approved :)  Thanks Santa!

Avril finds a box of stickers in her stocking :)

So she shows some of that personality we love and poses for the camera

Rebecca the Elf left the girls a note when they found her Christmas morning, saying she would be headed to the North Pole and would be seeing them again next Christmas time...

Check out these cool build-your-own jewelry sets that Santa put in the girls' stockings!

Making a necklace...

Let the present-opening begin!!!  Happy girls!

Avril seems to be smitten like a kitten, with her new sweatshirt!

Isn't she cute?!

McKel is fascinated with her stocking...the presents inside never seem to end...

Look at these two handsome boys!  Bret and the girls even exchanged gifts... it was so sweet :)

After opening a huge wrapped package, Bret finds an Amazon gift certificate hidden inside...

New clothes for the growing girls!!

These girls are in heaven

More clothes!

Is that a new Leap Pad I see??!!

So I made this monstrous fleece blanket for my hubby :)  made with lots of love!  My wonderful madre helped me out with it, most of the work was done up in Logan so wandering eyes would not see the surprise!

After we finished opening all our gifts at our house, we headed up north!  We made a stop in Salt Lake to visit Grandpa Andrus, and then continued on up to wonderful, freezing Logan to visit more family we love!  Busy busy day of present opening!  Uncle JJ, Auntie Arleen, cousin Britt, Uncle Adrian, nana, and papa, all joined us in Logan for more fun.

Uncle JJ got the girls these HUGE presents!  Princess blankets, yay!

Auntie helps Avril to open her gifts.

Check it out!  A tangled blanky from Uncle JJ!

Nana's iPad makes an appearance :)  Brittney hides out in the background...

Thank you Uncle JJ!  We love you :)

One more stop:  Grandma Joyce's house!  Aunt Tracine brings even more surprises for everyone.  Such a sweet lady :)

A very merry Christmas :)

Check out the festive Nana and Papa, complete with antlers and a Santa hat!

I would say our first Christmas as a new family was a success!  We feel so grateful for all we've been blessed with this past year.  We hope everyone's holidays were filled with love and warmth, even if you live in Utah.  Merry Christmas!!