Christmas Pics, finally...

Well here we go, there are a lot of pictures so I hope you enjoy!Here are Chris and the boys looking to see where Santa Claus is on Norad.com. It is pretty fun for the boys to look and see how close he is and when they need to start going to bed. This is one of many traditions that we have every year.

We read a few Christmas stories and sang a few Christmas songs, the boys didn't last very long on this, but we tried.

Mikey enjoying the stories on the floor.

Opening their one present on Christmas Eve, Mikey got this fun science kit from Grandma Becky.

James got a doctor kit from Bob!

Shawn got a new pair of soccer shoes- gold ones!!
He has to look flashy out on the field!

Mikey, Uncle Jake and Shawn going to bed before 10 PM Gotta get bed so Santa will come.

The snacks that they left out for Santa and his reindeer, Shawn also wanted Santa to sign a paper so he would have his signature- very creative:)

Christmas Morning!!!

James loved his new soccer ball, of course. The picture was a bit blurry because he wouldn't stay still with it.

Mikey got an adventure kit with a backpack and binoculars and an all purpose tool and a pedometer and a flashlight, he can't wait to use it in Colorado.

Shawn got an IHome alarm clock for his IPod

Our beautiful tree

James' new Duplo Lego farm set!!

Mikey's new binoculars

Shawn's new soccer pants, he got many of those this year.

Opening Presents!!

Nice Bronco jersey from Grandma and Grandpa

James loved all the animals that he got and started playing with them right away, he loves to line them up and name them as he does it.

Lots of candy in the stockings.

Chris and Mikey working on his new Tasty Science kit, making some candy.

Opening some extra presents that James didn't quite get to earlier.

Mikey and one of his cool Lego sets that he got.

It was a very long day, many of them took naps. I tried to clean up.

Christmas Time Activities!!

Christmas time is full of all kinds of fun events. We got to participate in a lot of them. Grandma Becky sent us a fun little package with some things to do before Christmas. Her and bob got us a Gum Drop tree that you stick gum drops on all the branches and then you get to eat some everyday before Xmas. She also sent us a a Christmas Story book that had 24 days of little stories that you can read that tell about the story of Christ. I think those stories were fun for the kids, they got to hear a little bit about The true meaning of Christmas every day in December and they were very short, which is perfect for them right now.

James is helping Chris read a story, the books were just his size.
We also decided that we would cut down our Christmas tree at a tree farm. It was a bit different than going up to the mountains, but it was still enjoyable for the kids a bit less walking around too. Here we found a great 8 1/2 ft White Pine tree.

The pole was to see how tall they were to make sure you could fit in your house. We have such cute boys, they had fun helping Chris cut it down. The tree was a little too hard for them to help, but we let them cut some smaller branches after we got the big tree cut.

James wanted to help as well, so we let him pull a branch from the tree.

Pulling the tree back to the tree shaker and wrapper.

Bishop's Pine Crest Tree Farm had a lot of other things or the kids to do as well. They had free cookie and hot chocolate inside for everyone to enjoy out of the cold. They also had a little train ride for the kids while the trees are getting ready to take home. It was a fun Saturday for the whole family.

Here are boys decorating the tree. I was really tired so I went and took a nap and when I came down the tree had all the lights put on it. Chris had even put our outdoor Bronco lights on the tree to give it little taste of home. We then all helped to put on the ornaments.

Shawn was a little scared putting on the star topper, he was on Chris' shoulders and didn't like it very much.

James wanted to help too, so he put on several ornaments the best he could, but I think that he took more off than he put on.
Surrounded by the mounds of Christmas decorations, James decided it was a good spot to read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar'

We also made a bunch of snowflakes to put on our front windows, the boys really got into this, they kept asking me to make more for them to cut.

At our church the young children in the Primary put on a Christmas Program that had many songs and readings from the bible. In one of the songs Mikey got to play the triangle during it. He did a great job. He is the one on the furthest left with a star around his neck.

We also had Santa and Mrs. Claus come and talk to all the kids. They also gave them little goodie bags I thought James would be a lot more frightened than he was, but he went right up to him and sat on his lap and when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he told him that he wanted Christmas for Christmas, it was very cute. And he got it!

A quick shot of me and James while the Mikey was running around with his friends after the program.

What adorable little boys we have, we are so blessed to have such wonderful boys. (Shawn was at a soccer game in Oklahoma that weekend)