Christmas in February!

Better late than never. . . .

We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandma and Grandpa Hopewell's with John and Diane and their boys. The kids were excited about finally getting to open up a present or two! (Check out all those stockings at the top of the picture! They seriously took up the whole wall there were so many! My, how the Hopewell Family has grown.)

Grandma made all the kids these cute fleece pillows - a big hit! The boys each got a "Trio" building set and Maddie got a fashion designing/drawing kit, which has been the best present for her. She has come up with so many designs - really creative things and trendy too! She didn't get that from me. . .

We went home that night and the kids each got to open one more present - their annual Christmas jammies. So exciting! Hahahaha. We put them to bed all in the same room (what were we thinking?!) and told them they couldn't come downstairs to get us up until at least 6 a.m. We even discussed where the big hand and where the little hand had to be on the clock before they could come get us just so they would KNOW. (They CAN tell time by the way.) We got our first visit around 2:30 a.m. Um. . . what the heck happened to our time-telling lesson?! Too many excited kids, I guess. We (and by "we" I mean Josh) told them to go back to upstairs and come back to get us at 6 a.m. Our next visit was around 3 a.m. (They get their patience from their Daddy who was practically begging me to let him open some presents 3 days before Christmas.) Again with the "Go back upstairs until 6!" which they almost managed to do. They came back downstairs at 5:59! Seriously. Luckily, I missed most of these visits thanks to my wonderful, don't go to sleep without them earplugs that are a necessity if you're married to a Hopewell. :)

This is what we found when we went upstairs - Santa and his techno-elves had left the motherlode of video games at our house! Maddie and Ryley each got a Nintendo DS and the family got a Wii and Wii Fit. Santa so kindly had plugged in the kids' DS's to fully charge overnight.

Santa brought Cash the motorcycle he had asked for, which unfortunately after being taken out of the packaging did not work. Must be because Cash wouldn't sit on his lap! ;) Fortunately Santa had left a receipt for Mommy and we were able to take it back to the store and exchange it for a cooler Batman motorcycle.

Maddie got this cute necklace and some Littlest Pet Shops along with a couple of books and a TinkerBell game for her DS.

Ryley is SERIOUS about opening presents. Here he is opening the "Operation" game for all the kids. He also got a few Lego sets, a couple of books including the "Science Books" he asked for, a Star Wars Lego game for his DS and a Club Penguin Puffle (all the kids got one of these but Ryley is definitely the most attached to them and can be seen carrying everyone's around the house with him.)

Maddie and Ryley also got the Club Penguin DS game to share and have been enjoying it.

Daddy got lots of presents but unfortunately Mommy didn't get any pictures! I guess that's a sign that we were enjoying ourselves too much. :) He got the last General Conference on CD's, some movies, and I made him a BIG HUGE fleece blanket so that he wouldn't look so pitiful trying to cover up with the "washcloth" blanket (as he calls it) at night on the couch.

Mommy wasn't left out of the gift receiving either. I got these awesome slippers. Aren't I the height of fashion now? (Notice I left this picture in color so you could get the full effect.)

Daddy-O also totally surprised me with this beauty:

A display box for my Scentsy Warmers! I didn't even ask for this - he came up with the idea all by himself. What a good hubby I have. Love ya babe!

After opening presents upstairs we went downstairs to check out our stockings. Inside each of the kids' was an envelope. Maddie opened hers first and was a little confused. Then Ryley opened his and they were a little intrigued. Then Cash opened his and. . . . .they said "Oh." Yup - that was the extent of their excitement. What the heck?! Josh and I were a little shocked that they weren't jumping up and down and so Josh made some comment like, "Well, I guess maybe they don't want to go to Florida, Mommy." At the sound of Florida they started jumping up and down and screaming with joy. ????? We have weird children. Cash was really excited at the Florida news - he just doesn't like having his picture taken lately.

After opening stockings we all got dressed and went over to Granny and Pops' house for breakfast (mmmmmmm - strawberry topped homemade waffles and bacon) and more present opening. Maddie got all three High School Musical movies (came in very handy on our trip to Florida) and Ryley got a video game and Cash got some Wikki Stix, which have both been a big hit as well. "The Schoolmarm" got a cool xylophone and some handbells for music class/primary. Daddy-O got some much needed clothing. Thank you lots Granny and Pops!

We hung out with Granny and Pops and Brianne and John and Uncle Taylor for a while and then we headed back over to the Hopewell's for Christmas Dinner. Almost the whole family was there (just minus Jessie and her family and Jordan and Craig and Katie) so we had a house-full but it was fun.

It was a wonderful but very long day and the kiddo's were ready for bed long before we finally left the Hopewell's. Getting up at 2:30 a.m. will do that to ya! The day after Christmas was an even better day though. We just sat around and enjoyed hanging out with each other and playing with our new toys. It was wonderful! I'm so grateful that we live so close to both of our parents and lots of siblings and that we get to see them so often. It is a great blessing but it was really nice to have a day together just as our family.

And just in case it's another month or so until I find the time/energy to post again here are a few pics from our AWESOME trip to DisneyWorld!

Our first day on the ferryboat headed to Magic Kingdom.

Inside the park! Notice each child has a map. Ryley was the only one who kept it all day and wanted to know where we were all the time and where we were going next. He does love a map. :)

We met LOTS of characters and Cash liked NONE of them! We had to force him to be in this picture so he refused to look at the camera and cried on my shoulder instead. Needless to say there were many moments like this one. . .

This may be my favorite picture of the whole trip. Cash was absolutely amazed and thoroughly amused by some street performers at Epcot Center. And yes, they were waaaaay up high.

Oh, what a trip! More to come. . .