CHRISTMAS 2011

Christmas Eve

Bryce's parents made an impromptu trip over to spend the night on the 23rd (they wanted to catch a piece of the kids' Christmas excitement :). The next morning we had French toast, and per tradition, we got out the angel chime. Powell was fascinated!

Later that morning, continuing tradition, we went bowling. Papa and Gramma headed back to Redmond after bowling, missing out on all the "fun'...

...and by "fun," we mean disgusting mess that we had to clean up. Powell went home from the bowling alley like this because he pooped...A LOT! Bryce was holding him and it was streaming out of Powell's pant leg, it was that much poop! Thank goodness there weren't that many people there and we were actually in the arcade area away from most of the people. Ah, memories!

Paige's family always went to Chinese for Christmas Eve, but the only really good Asian-fusion place in Wenatchee was closed. Thank goodness Fujiyama had just opened up a few weeks earlier! They were perfect for a fun Christmas Eve dinner! Mattie had been sick and still wasn't feeling well, so no smiles from her. But after getting over his initial trepidation, CJ loved it! And Bryce learned that yes, sake is alcohol! Maybe they should warn you of that before they spray it into your mouth unexpectedly. That's ok - Bryce brushed up on his etiquette by politely spitting the stuff out on to his plate :) 

In spite of the look on Mattie's face (remember, she was sick), the hibachi experience at Fujiyama was super fun and super yummy (despite the unexpected alcohol scare :) and we'd recommend it to anyone!

The one thing Mattie did enjoy was petting the horse statue at the restaurant

After dinner we came home and had a Christmas Family Home Evening and not-so-yummy rice pudding for dessert (we're gonna need to change that tradition to tapioca pudding). Mattie got the raisin in the pudding, so she got to open the family gift! Inside were Christmas jammies for everyone, a giant jar of jelly beans, and a DVD, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Who needs jelly beans when you've got your fists? :)

The movie? A hit! The jelly beans? Not so much :(. They were Jelly Bellys and the kids weren't fans of half of the flavors they got. Oh well. Like they needed more candy.

Due to Mattie being sick and it just getting late, we opted to give Santa a different treat this year: graham crackers and milk. That, and CJ drew him a great picture. After Daddy read T'was the Night Before Christmas and the kids put their candles in the window, they headed off to bed. And then Santa left this spread for them...

...along with this huge surprise in the backyard too!!

Christmas Morning

Going through their stockings. Powell was fascinated with the spinning light globe Santa gave him, and Mattie - well, we didn't get a smile out of her all morning until she ate some breakfast :)

Opening the Santa gifts. Mattie and CJ were great older siblings and helped Powell open his gifts too. Mattie got a Rapunzel doll (among other things) and Littlest Pets, and CJ got what he'd been asking for for months: a ball racer (Dagedar)! He was pumped!

Powell got some new little rattley friends

Mattie got a dog that she can groom and carry in a stylish case

And Mattie and CJ got sweet camping chairs that will be great for this summer

One more special thing Santa got everyone was their very own ornament. After opening their ornament, the kids hung it on the tree. All of Paige's siblings had their own special, engraved ornament growing up and Paige remembers searching the Christmas tree each year to see where her special ornament was placed. We're sure glad Santa gave us all our own ornaments so we can continue the tradition (P.S. looking at the ornaments, it looks like we need to have another baby in 2013 if we want to stay on track :)

Powell's first Christmas. And if you notice, he spent most of his first Christmas asleep on the floor :)

Combine the fact that Mattie had been running fevers the two days before Christmas, and it was early so she was tired and hungry, it's no surprise we didn't get any smiles out of Mattie for quite some time. But Grandma Forsgren's gift finally got some genuine happiness out of this little girl - a horse that walks!!

CJ and his gifts, including a real digital camera from Grandma Forsgren! He also really liked Daddy's gift, a new BYU t-shirt! Oh yeah, and remember Santa's big gift? It was the last gift of the morning, and CJ was the only one to play on it (we still hadn't had breakfast at this point and Mattie was still a little grumpy so there was no way she was putting on her coat and going outside :)

Mommy and her gifts. It doesn't look like much, but Bryce spent WAY too much and got Paige everything she wanted. He even managed to totally surprise her, which doesn't happen very often. And CJ's gift that he made in preschool made Mommy cry 

Daddy and his gifts. Bryce loved the gifts the kids got him, and was especially surprised by Paige's big gift to him (big, as in the best of the bunch): tickets to the BYU vs. Gonzaga basketball game in Spokane in February!! These things are impossible to come by without spending hundreds of dollars, but, like most things, it's all about who you know. And we happen to know some people ,who know some season ticket holders who live in Seattle and were willing to sell their tickets (thank you again, Bromiley'sCJ)!

After presents, Powell helped Mommy make the traditional German pancakes for breakfast :)

Thank goodness church was at 1:00 because it gave the kids a chance to play with their new toys. Most of these pictures are of Mattie because we were trying to actually document her finally smiling :)

Our attempt at family pictures before and after church

After church, we packed up and headed over to Redmond for Christmas with Bryce's family. With 5 kids under the age of 4, it was craziness there and somehow no pictures were taken with our camera :(. We can tell you that we were so spoiled that we didn't know what to do with ourselves! CJ and Mattie were each given comfy chairs (among other things), Powell was given a portable swing, and Paige and Bryce were given a beautiful vintage-style picture of the Mt. Timpanogos temple (it made Paige cry when she saw it). Bryce's dad gives a special gift each year to all of his kids and this year it was...an iPad2!! It's been such a fabulous family gift!

Days after Christmas

Mattie and her two favorite Christmas gifts (the horse and the chair), from her two favorite ladies - her Grandmas!

Powell was too little to get his own chair, but he sure loves hanging out in Mattie's and CJ's :)

The day after we got back from Seattle for Christmas, Paige found two of Powell's little rattle friends like this: wearing his Christmas socks. Turns out CJ wanted to keep them warm :)

And speaking of CJ, here's our little super hero making good use of some of his Christmas gifts. What a cutie!