Christmas at the Elwoods

This was my first Christmas being married and having the kids, so I'll admit, I had some expectations. That was my first mistake...*note to self...no expectations at Christmastime. We headed to my parents on Christmas Eve, had a yummy low key dinner and broke out the games. We left for a minute to go and pick up Kyra and Rylan and then came back to my mom and dad's. It was really nice to have such a low key dinner and not alot of stuff going on. When we got home, we watched "Joy to the World," an LDS dvd that shows the Christmas story from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We all opened our Christmas pajamas and I had all intentions to take a family picture, including Kona and his antlers. However, due to lack of participation, no picture was taken. We did look super good in our moose pajamas.

Tim and I were both tired and since we had a super busy day on Christmas, lights were out at 10pm. We told the kids they couldn't come upstairs until we were up in the morning. Tim and I were almost asleep and Tim gets a text message from Rylan. The conversation went something like this.

Rylan: Dad, will you come down here. I can't sleep.
Tim: Go to sleep or Santa will not come.
Rylan: Dad, please come down here.
*Tim goes downstairs.
Rylan: Dad, I can't sleep.
Tim: Here's a flashlight. Read for a little while.
Rylan: Ok.
*Tim comes upstairs. Fifteen minutes later...we're almost asleep. Tim gets a text.
Rylan: Dad, the flashlight needs new batteries.
Tim: Just go to sleep. Try counting elves riding reindeer and jumping over chimneys.
Rylan: Dad...just bring me some batteries.
*Tim goes downstairs, gives him batteries. We go to sleep...sort of.

Tim woke up at 5am and took care of the stockings. I was awake too, so we took Kona outside and let him do his thing. He was super tired and I'm sure he was thinking, "Why in the world are we awake so early?!" Rylan texted again and asked if he could come upstairs. It was 5:40am. I started making the gingerbread pancakes and the buttermilk syrup that tastes just like caramel. Kyra woke up and was in a super great mood...definitely a surprise since she's a typical "I wanna sleep in" teenager.

Finally...after a yummy breakfast, it was time to open presents. Rylan put on his elf hat and decided to be in charge of the gift distribution. The madness began. Poor Kona didn't know what to think. I was kinda surprised since I thought he'd want to shred the wrapping paper and be naughty. He mostly just laid on the rug and chewed on one of his new super stinky bones. Here's some pics of the morning madness.

























After presents were opened, it was time to shower and get ready to head to Grandpa Elwood's. We delivered his big Christmas gift...a box full of homemade salsa. He LOVED it! We headed back to my parents for the traditional Hansen meal of prime rib, salad, rolls, baked potatoes...you know...just a general carnivorous feeding. Tim and I took the kids to their mom's and then headed back for more feeding. Yep...we ate WAY too much.

It was an awesome Christmas and so much fun. I'm really sad that it's all over. I'm planning on taking the tree down on Monday and starting the new year with a clean house. Oh...one more highlight.

Rylan got some deodorant in his stocking. When he pulled it out he said, "I got derodiant!" So now, at our house we use derodiant to avoid stinky arm pits.

Merry Christmas!