Christmas...Part One!

It's a long overdue review of the holiday. And boring, because I'm not posting any pictures right now, either. My computer has been acting up...Basically, that means that I could only do one thing on it a day, since it took almost that long just to start up. Lee fixed it, but it took restoring it to factory settings to do it. And I just can't commit NOW to re-loading all my pictures. So there.

Let me just say that my kids were (as they always are!) totally spoiled! There is way too much love...and OVER-giving!

I worked on Christmas Eve...That's what happens when you work retail!...but the store closed at 6:00, so I wasn't there too late. Then for the first time ever, we all stayed home on Christmas Eve. It was kind of nice to have the quiet and calm, but we missed seeing all the McPhie family. (My tank is definitely nearing empty after missing the Thanksgiving get-together AND the Christmas one!) The kids went to bed in my closet (yeah...it's that big. Five kids can camp out of the floor at the same time...!) to minimize peeking. :D The Lee and I put out our gifts and headed to bed.

The next morning, we had to be ready by 6:00 AM. (For years, Anna has been inviting her folks (my in-laws!) to come over and watch the kids open gifts in the morning. This year, they decided to take her up on it...and you can't watch just ONE family open gifts! Good grandparents hit ALL the houses!) And frankly, we were up anyway. Darn kids! :D So we all got ready and dressed for the day in the new pajamas Santa brought in our stockings! (One of my favorite parts of Christmas...I wish jammies were acceptable as clothing more often in my life!)

Gift Highlights:

Sydney...She finally got the cell phone she's been asking for since she was FIVE!! (Whatever, Santa. I was good all year...I'm not sure why she get's a phone!) So Santa is the bomb, but her not-so-awsome folks only gave her 300 text messages a month. I know it's not enough, but I wanted to see her actually watch the texting. So far, so good. In fact, it's kind of hilarious to see her freak out about it. ("Ryan has to answer every text! Like I say "Bye", and she has to say "Bye" back!") She also got new clothes (fashionista!) and new bedding and room decor in her favorite turquoise blue color!

Megan...Santa brought her the iPod Touch she's been asking for. And it's the NEW version, complete with camera! She also got lots of clothes...that's what she really wanted!...and new bedding and a lamp. She was also pretty excited about the crystal square with the Salt Lake Temple inside and the new light-up base to put it on. (Maybe I'll take and post a picture for those who aren't sure what I'm talking about!)

Tory...He also wanted the iPod Touch and Santa obliged. "X-Games" bedding, some skinny jeans and a new "Not puffy" coat that he's not embarrassed to wear in front of his friends!

Spencer...Asked Santa for a Paper Jams Guitar. He has been jamming ever since. (Mom loves that it has a headphone plug...!) He wanted new Harley Davidson bedding...He loves it. It's so funny to me! He also got the Imaginext Space Shuttle...very cool...comes complete with aliens!

Michael...Kept asking Santa for the Blue Dragon. (I'm glad Santa knew what he was talking about!...Whew!) He got the Imaginext BatCave, and How to Train Your Dragon bedding.

The three boys wanted the Kung Zu Battle Arena so their hamsters could do battle. And so I went and bought a hamster for Lee so he could join in the fun! (He thinks I'm a dork, I know!) But he also got lots of needed clothes for work, including a new striped Old Navy jacket that I think is fantastic.

I got a vacuum that stays on long enough to actually vacuum a whole room...Yay! :D And a BluRay player. That's pretty exciting!

And that was all before we left OUR house! Crazy, right?