Christmas Day 2014

Phillip woke us up at 7:30 with a valiant war whoop that petered out to a "whaaaat is covering the hallway?" I laughed knowing the temporary barrier worked. I showed him where Santa left his stocking. He and Amelia immediately tore into their stockings. He was delighted that Santa left him teeny tiny pickles in a tiny container. His slinky only retained its shape about 10 minutes. He mangled it up into a wire purse for Mia. Everett slunk in wondering why it was so loud.  Eventually he caught on that Santa left him a "socking" and presents. After Evelyn woke up I got the lights and music on for effect. After the kids raced into the room chaos exploded. I remember Phillip whooping and repeatedly yelling "boo-yah!" over his Battle Rover. Amelia was delighted with the pottery wheel. Everett was clueless and wandered around until Phillip found a teddy bear sitting on a Christmas tree branch. Evelyn grabbed a fruit pack and sat on the floor until I opened her food. Everett opened a bunch of power ranger keys, he was so worried there was no weapon to plug the keys in to. We solved that problem quickly. Each kid got a fun lantern from Cabela's, they insisted on eating breakfast under the table with their camping lights. We breakfasted on sausages, eggs, and pop tarts. 

It snowed over night and through the day, vertical snow! We enjoyed a lazy day tucked in at home with lots of fun gifts and the best company. Amelia learned how to throw a basic pot, then threw two more on her own. She had clay splattered on her face, she insisted the splatters stay to remind her about her new talent. Phillip was beside himself while Justin added the accessories to the Battle Rover. It is the coolest toy ever. The ships he got the day before can attackntge rover and the rover will detect the ships then sound alarms. It launches a space ship and shoots various disks. The boys disappeared for hours while they played. At one time Phillip raced by with Evelyn perched on the battle rover holding on for dear life. Everett mostly played Power Rangers with his keys and power weapons. Evelyn spent the day picking up forgotten pieces of candy, looking like a forgotten orphan with sticky face, hair, and hands. She sat on a gift bow after one diaper change, it stuck to her cute buns much to our delight. 

The kids and I watched a movie piled on the couch in ultimate snuggling formation. We played new games and tried out gifted crafts. Instead of making the elaborate ham dinner I planned Justin suggested having only hordurves for dinner. DONE. After dinner we cleaned up a bit. The best part of the entire day was sitting piled on the love seat singing Christmas songs as new snow fell outside. Simply a perfect day. 

**We also got to Skype with Elder Lance and then my crazy family. We talked via phone with the Calls and the James Lances. Elder Lance looks great! He is doing all the right things to serve the Lord. I loved that my kids could see him and reconnect that this is the missionary we pray for so often.