That's A Wrap

Whew! It is official...as of today Christmas 2014 has officially come to a close for our family. And man, was it a good one. 

My husband and I both have large families and each year we joke that we celebrate what we call the "12 days of Christmas". We are so blessed that most of our family lives close by, so when the holidays roll around, we have tons to celebrate. Unfortunately, we can't fit all the celebrations into one day, but it is fun to spread it out over the entire week. The kids think its great since Santa just happens to leave presents for them at each one of our stops. 

Christmas Eve we enjoyed church together in the morning to kick off our holiday right, and then we were able to enjoy not one, but two gatherings. 

The Cutes were in awe everywhere we went because apparently Gigi and other family members decorate the lower five feet of their tree. This was a huge deal, and almost was more exciting than the offerings of Christmas sprinkle cookies and new toys at every turn. 

We arrived home LATE Christmas Eve night, and word has it Mrs. Claus was up finalizing last minute details until 3a.m. Luckily, her faithful hound Bella kept her company. 

The Cutes woke up on Christmas night morning bright and early. I am pretty sure we saw the sun rise, but neither The Hubs or I were going to complain. We were just as excited as they were!

Their faces were priceless, and Little Cute understood more than I thought she would. She also went straight for her brother's section, and it took quite the convincing for her to release the new Planes cup Santa brought her brother.

The convincing came in the form of baby dolls. She was smitten with the Cinderella one Cute gave her, and didn't want to unwrap a single gift after that one. 

Cute forgave the cup snatching incident the moment he opened his gifts from the Hubs. My hunting loving husband gave Cute not one, but two, bow and arrow sets. This was the only thing, other than the "green helicopter that is friends with Dusty", that he asked for. One shoots nerf darts, and one, to much excitement from Little Cute and Bella, shoots mini marshmallows. Needless to say the latter was a HUGE hit for everyone involved. 

The excitement didn't stop there when it came for my turn to open. Nothing says hot holiday gift like all weather floor mats for your car. 

Get excited people. Floor mats!!!

I did put these on the list this year. Waaaaay at the bottom of the list, but it was on there. Life is too short to be spent vacuuming crunched up goldfish out of your car everyday. Who knew Santa would by pass all the pretty sparkly things on the list and go straight for the practical? Crunched up goldfish must bother Santa too. 

After we opened all of Santa's surprises, and the sun finally rose, we got dressed and hosted a string of family members throughout the day. The kids had a blast playing with their grandparents, aunts, and uncle, and loved giving gifts just as much as receiving them. 

Along the way we even acquired a new family member. My youngest sister, K, gave Cute (much to his parents surprise) his very first pet of his own. Everyone meet Sammy...

Sammy has shown that he has a laid back personality and a keen sense of survival. He has lived to tell the tale of continuous tank tapping to "make sure he moves", multiple large feedings because "mommy he looks hungry again!", and often enjoys an all day rave (K bought a tank with multiple lighting change options). 

Our last event of the week was so much fun. We went to the Hubs' aunt's house and the kids loved playing with all of their cousins. Everywhere you turned there were tons of smiling happy children playing together and it made my heart happy to see.

True to form, Aunt P had the house decked out in the most wonderful holiday decor. Everything was gorgeous! Little Cute was so enamored with all the sparkly things with in her reach.

Today I felt a little sad that the week went by in a blur, and that the festivities had come to an end, but I am over joyed that my husband and I get the blessing to experience the spirit of Christmas through our children's eyes. 

Nothing could be a greater gift. 

It definitely trumps gifts in the form of rubberized car floor protectant. 

We hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family!!!

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