christmas = wonderful. (but pictures = pathetic.)

{Christmas Eve dinner made by Kurt.  Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and sparkling cider.  That little hat on Nora's head was a Christmas gift from my sis-in-law that I thought was too cute to take off.  So she wore it pretty much all night.  Ha.}

This Christmas was our very first one spent with just our own little family.  We weren't really up to making the long drive to UT from CA with the three kiddos, and plane ticket prices for the whole fam would have been astronomical.  So we decided to just stay put.  

We missed family (and the snow), but we had a lovely Christmas here, too, with just the five of us.

I had every intention of recording it with beautiful photos but...alas...I did not.

We ate our yummy ham dinner on Christmas Eve and tried to talk to the boys about the real meaning of Christmas.  (But, lets be honest, that didn't go so well.  Hey at least we tried.)

Before bed we left cookies and milk out, sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn, and snapped a couple pictures which apparently was the last thing on earth they wanted to do because they refused to smile:

After they were asleep, Kurt and I did some last minute wrapping while finishing off the last of the sparkling cider and watching "Christmas Vacation".  Yep...we are party animals alright.

I was so excited to see the boys' faces in the morning.  Jack slept in until 7:00 which is remarkable.  Seriously.  He wakes up before 6 AM every single day, so this was truly a Christmas miracle.

We spent the day lounging around in our pajamas, playing with all the fun stuff that Santa brought.

It was all about the classics this year:  Lincoln Logs, Marble Works, K'Nex, etc.  It's so much fun having boys.

Oh and I thought Christmas would be the opportune time for me to try making homemade cinnamon rolls for the first time of my life.

Which I did.  And they were delicious. 

We also chatted on the computer with both of our families throughout the day.  It was nice to still be able to "see" them on Christmas and share some laughs.

I remember when I was a little girl I would get so sad when Christmas was over because a whole year seemed like soooooooo long to wait for it to come again.

I don't ever feel that way anymore because I have realized as an adult how fast time flies and how fast Christmas will come again.

Seriously, the blink of an eye, people.  The blink of an eye!