Our Christmas tree is pretty eclectic...it is full of ornaments we have picked up from the vacation destinations we have been to, hand prints and pictures of our kids, ornaments I made when I was little, ornaments we have received as gifts over the years, etc. Maybe someday I will have a tree that is actually nice and coordinated and aesthetically pleasing to put in our front room, but I will always have to have a tree like this somewhere in my house. It is so fun for me to see each ornament and remember where it came from. I have to put a few ornaments back on the tree every day, but I am proud that Dax hasn't tipped the tree over (yet)!.
Anyway, after Santa filled up the stockings, put out the presents and headed on his merry way, Preston and I happily headed off to bed! We were wondering how early Arden would wake up because she has been so excited for Santa...but it was Daxton who woke up long before the sun. He was up around 6:00 a.m., but since he doesn't really "get" the Santa thing yet, we are not quite sure why he was up so early. We brought him into our room and tried to keep him quiet, but we gave up around 7:00 a.m. and went to get Arden, who was still fast asleep. Preston opened her door and quietly said "Arden...Santa Claus came!" Arden went from completely asleep to running down the stairs as fast as she could in exactly 0.33 seconds. Arden and Dax quickly dumped out their stockings and started going through their loot. Even Corbie was excited:
How cute is she???? Daxton, of course, was most excited about the Candy cane full of M&M's! But once he discovered he couldn't open it himself, he quickly moved on to the half-cookie that Santa hadn't finished eating:
It was a little stale from being out all night, but he didn't seem to mind! We decided after we finished opening our presents from Santa that we had better take a breakfast break. We ate some of Preston's famous french toast, along with some of the Olsen's famous syrup (THANKS JESS!). Yum!
After our nice healthy breakfast, we opened the presents from Preston's parents. They are on a mission to India, but since it was on Santa's way, he picked them up and brought them to us! Daxton's favorite present was a "Fur Real" kitten, or "MEOW" as Dax calls them:
If you pet the cat, it says "meow," and purrs and moves its feet. Dax LOVES cats and so he was pretty excited to have his very own. And mom is excited that there is no litter box to clean :) The kids played with their presents for a while, and soon my family showed up at our house for some cinnamon rolls and more french toast. Then we opened some MORE presents! Arden and Dax, of course, had almost as much fun playing with the boxes as they did with the toys:
Arden got quite a few clothes for Christmas, and changed her outfit FIVE TIMES during the day. This girl LOVES her clothes. I was worried we were getting her too many clothes and not enough toys. Here is a conversation we had last week:
Me: Arden, would you rather ask Santa for a new toy, or some new boots?
Arden: (immediately) "BOOTS!"
Me: You would rather have boots than toys?
Arden: Yes!
Me: Would you rather have a new toy or a new dress?
Arden: (immediately) "DRESS!"
Me: "How old are you? 14?"
Arden: "No, silly mama! Three!"
I remember when I was really small and I opened up a present and it was clothes instead of a toy, I was disappointed. Not Arden!
After the last present was finally opened we relaxed and had some snacks and treats while Dax and Cora took a quick nap. We then headed over to my Great-Grandma Wilson's house for a visit and some MORE treats. It was good to see her and some of my cousins and aunts and uncles who we don't see often. But soon it was bedtime and we headed home. The kids were pretty wound up so it was hard to get them settled down to sleep, but eventually exhaustion overcame their sugar highs and they slept. It was a wonderful, exhausting, fun, memorable Christmas.
Even Corbie was enjoying being outside and seeing all of the colorful lights:
We walked all around temple square and then over to what used to be Main Street. We made it all the way to the reflecting pools by the Church Office Building:
Since it took us longer to get downtown than we anticipated, we decided we better head back to the car because the kids would probably be getting hungry soon. We were right. By the time we made it back to the car, Corbie was crying for her bottle. It wasn't a terribly long night, but we were there for about an hour, which is MUCH better than last year. (Last year, we lasted about 10 minutes before both Dax and Arden were crying to go back to the car because they were cold). 
Atta boy Dax! But as you can see, Corbie was soooo done. Needless to say, there aren't going to be any group shots on this year's Christmas card. Oh well. Luckily, Corbie was much more cooperative during her solo photo shoot:
I remember flipping through a catalog because Preston had asked me to circle some things I wanted for Christmas. There was a picture of a cute little blond baby modeling some flannel pajamas, and I circled the picture. I am so glad that I get to share this Christmas with all three of my little blond wishes come true. :)
