Christmas 2014

 It started at 5:15 am this year...yawn.

Oh my goodness we were so tired when the boys came running in telling us to get up, It's Christmas!! We tried to get them to go back to bed, but just too much excitement.

5:15 is SOOOO early. I was so out of it, I didn't even get them to pose for a picture at the top of the stairs like usual :( oh well.

Anyway 5:15 is especially early when no one was joining us this year.

It was just the four of us all day because of a huge storm that was forecast to come in on Christmas Day. And it did end up snowing ALL day long, so we were glad that Grandma and Grandpa Harry and uncle Jordan decided to not brave the roads...even though we really missed them. It was just different and quiet this year. And oh, I felt horrible with my cold. :(

But it was still such a fun, special day. Ashton and Gunnar were so excited for their gifts and were totally entertained playing all day long.

Even while I napped for awhile on the couch at about 8:30 am.

After they opened a few things, we had our traditional cinnamon rolls ...

...and Lars heard me tell Ashton I was going to make a smoothie too, so he had him go get one of my presents from under the tree to open...

 My new Ninja blender...and I do have to say it is awesome!

They both got Kindle Fires from Santa as well as hover balls and snowball makers, Etch a sketch's and some books.

We got them a couple of games, long underwear for skiing, Webkinz, these fun Kendama toys, new pillows for their beds, big soft Aggie Blankets (from Lars) that he was so proud of picking out for them, and the boys really do love...

 Oh and this cute new ski coat for Ashton that he really needed!

 I love that he still gets excited about Webkinz :)

 And who can remember what else?

Oh these cute hats from Grandma and Grandpa in Texas as well as Amazon gift cards...

 and this cute card...haha :)

Money, lunch boxes and pajamas from Nana and Papa... 

                                                            Lars also got me a new iPod since my old one that I loved finally died. And I got him seat covers for his truck (that are being sent back), and hunting gloves and a calendar I had made.

After everything was opened, we just hung out for awhile then we went ahead with making part of our big dinner we had planned that included a huge 22 lb. turkey that Lars' work gave him,  green bean casserole, rolls, stuffing and pumpkin pie.

Ashton helped carve the turkey:)

While we were making stuff the boys went out to play in all of the fun new snow. I even got my stuff on and went out with them for awhile. It was so pretty!

 It was a really good day :)

And Gunnar fell asleep on the couch again... 

Cutie :)

Christmas Eve 2014...

We decided to head up to Beaver Mountain to ski on Christmas Eve...

I was so excited to see Santa skiing right when we got there after I had been so sad to not have gotten any Santa pictures this year so far. Then I got my chance when he happened to get off of the ski lift right in front of us and said he'd be happy to take some pictures.

This totally made my day...and you can't beat that background for pictures with Santa!

Santa was a really good skier too!

 This was a really fun way to spend Christmas Eve. Except it was the day my nasty cold started...I tried to just ignore it at that point!

 Oh how I love these cute boys...

Getting ready to leave, we were down at the lodge and the boys wanted to do one more run, but I was done. So I waited at the bottom and was going to try to take a video of them coming down, but I glanced over at the lodge and could have sworn that I recognized our old friend Brady Cox (who lives in Texas now) standing on the deck. So I walked closer and thought it was surely him, so I slowly walked up the steps and kind of stood next to him and said his name figuring I would just walk away if he didn't turn towards me when I said it...haha.

Well as soon as I said Brady...he came over and gave me a hug and tried to get my goggles off to see who it was for sure. We have not seen him in literally years! Then he said his wife Audrey was down in the ski shop looking at ticket prices so I  went looking for her after Lars showed up with the boys.

We had to snap some pictures...

 So fun to see them after so long!

We used to hang out all the time before any of us had kids.

Now they have 4 girls! 

We ended up staying a little longer than we had planned after running into them, so we had to race home to get showered to make it to church in time for Christmas Eve mass....my favorite part of Christmas Eve.

I am always so very grateful for our faith and for the reason we celebrate Christmas!

After church we went home and made a quick dinner and the boys opened their Christmas Eve pajamas and ornaments, then we got changed and watched the Polar Express downstairs.

I love this picture!
 This is the first year I have put out all of the presents before Christmas Eve. They loved looking at them all wondering what was in them...

 And I loved the tags I used this year :)

 This night was one of my favorite memories of the our Christmas break. I just love the feeling of Christmas Eve and the excitement and anticipation. Ashton is almost 10 and the magic is still SO alive and well in him, I love it! He sat by me on the couch and could almost not sit still he was so excited and at one point said, "my stomach is all tingley" :) He is so cute!

 And that is the one night of the year that he begs to go to bed early.

And I love this picture too...Gunnar could not keep his eyes open any longer towards the end of the movie. I don't get to snuggle with him much these days so I loved this moment...

After the movie was over we got some cookies ready for Santa and put them out, then headed to bed.