christmas

is just so exciting as a family. i mean, look at this first picture of sela coming down the stairs, she really can’t even contain what is going on! i tried to grab my camera and snap a couple pictures as the kids were rushing down the stairs from their bedrooms, but they were going so fast i nearly missed myla!
kj tried to wake us up at 3am, but dusty gave him a quick, “no, it’s too early…go back to bed!” in a groggy voice, and then everyone woke up just after 8am, which is pretty good for jet-lagged parents!

our morning was a perfect combination of excitement, love, laziness, a big home-cooked breakfast, fireplace going, lots of snuggles & kisses, and unbelievable family time.

in the midst of gift-opening chaos, i did try to implement a new ‘christmas-morning gift organizing practice.’ it involved these little storage bins in the picture below. i had a wall lined up with them and everyone had a bin with their nickname on it. As they opened their gifts, stocking stuffers, etc. they kept everything in their own bins helping to avoid a couple of things. first, helping to not lose any crucial small pieces to gifts in the wrapping-paper mess. and second, to help with taking everyone’s new goods to their room later in the day. it totally sped up the cleaning process, and i think we’ll be doing this little organizing-tool each christmas morning from here on out!

after our long lazy morning & afternoon, we met up with amber & ryan {dusty’s niece & husband} and their little girl emery, grandma pat and our gang and headed to park city to have a big christmas dinner at ‘ruth’s chris.’ it was a cozy, perfect ending to our holiday.

between now and next christmas, i hope we share the joy, magic, & love of this season all year long!