Christmas Morning

John and I stayed up to see if we could catch a glimpse of Santa.  The kids were a little wound up and took longer to fall asleep.  We gave up and put the camera on an tripod to try and catch him.

I told a couple of the kids that they couldn't get us out of bed too early ... and that I should average the their wake-up times to be the time we can be ready to open gifts.  They didn't like that idea.  Just imagine ... we have teenagers, a preteen and a 5 year old who can sleep until 10 ... the average time would work out to be 11:00 a.m. ;o)

The kids woke up and found the breakfast that Santa left.  We took our time getting ready, eating, etc and didn't start opening gifts until after 8:00. 

We all took turns starting with the youngest. It was fun to see the reactions and questions regarding the gifts.

I love Kerst's reaction.  Poor kid is surrounded by sisters ...

Or when Kerst asked, "What do you do with that?"  Julia showed him ...

 She did get a shaver, but this was a double sided potato peeler.  He was asking what you do with a potato peeler with two peeling options (soft or hard fruits/veggies).

I loved seeing them open special gifts they found for each other.  The kids all drew a name and went shopping for that person.  It was one of my favorite moments this season ... seeing them running around the store trying to hide from the person they were shopping for.  I was at the check out when John and Kerst came darting to the front, dodging back and forth hiding their future purchase.  They were able to dart to a self-check out with their hidden purchase.  Someone watching on a surveillance camera would have thought they were trying to shoplift.  It was quite a sight ... with lots of giggling from Kerst.

Kendall recorded a sweet book for Julia, Do you know how much I miss you?   He helped her open it.

Kendall opening his gift from Jaley.  I love his little feet sticking out ...

I am grateful my kids are pretty low-key.  Jaley was more than thrilled with her Chuck t-shirts and shoes.  Jenna LOVED her hard guitar case.  Kendall loved his dinosaurs.  Kerst was thrilled about his new waffle maker.  Julia was just grateful to be home with family ...

We are very blessed.