Advent Days 22-24 and Christmas

December 22: Drive to Colorado. We left early (7:15 am) and unfortunately our trip didn't start out so well. Corbyn got a little carsick (thankfully he threw up in a plastic bag) and then not too long after that we slid off the road (thankfully no one was hurt and our car only sustained cosmetic damage). After being delayed 3 hours (waiting for a policeman to come write a report for our insurance company and getting a flat fixed), we finally were on the road again and made it to Grandpa and Grandma Phillips' house 12 hours after starting our journey!

December 23: See Big Hero 6 in the Movie Theater. Aunt Marti had been working at a movie theater and was able to get us in for free, so we saw it in style! It was a cute movie - another Disney success!

December 24: Go Ice Skating. We went at the outdoor rink at the Southlands Mall near Rog's parent's house. Jason, Diana, Blake, and Skyler were able to join us. The kids really weren't very good, but they didn't give up easily. Their favorite part was when we let them back on the ice after putting their shoes on. They pulled Rog around and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I got to hang out with Skyler safely off the ice.

And that was the end of our Advent activities. It was so fun - I can't wait to do it again next year! Now onto the rest of Christmas - this is gonna be long!

Dixie had her cookie party the night before Christmas Eve.

The kids loved having another chance to decorate cookies - this time with their cousins. Even Cousin Blake got to come!

After the cookie party, we had dinner and then Santa made a surprise visit. I bet you can guess how Peyton felt about that.

She wouldn't sit on his lap, but talked to him from a safe distance. 

And she was ok taking a gift from him, but was careful not to get too close!

Corbyn, on the other hand, was so excited to see Santa again!

Santa brought Peyton a new dolly that she calls Ballerina (her first dolly with a name - the others are all dolly or baby) and Corbyn a Donatello mask and weapon set.

On Christmas Eve we had dinner with all of Roger's family (including Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Phillips, but not Tay and Martha who went to Canada for Christmas this year). Everyone left pretty early (like 6:00pm) to go do their own thing for Christmas Eve. We had just planned on hanging out with everyone, so when they all left we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. We killed time until we could give our kids a bath and nestle them all snug in their beds (with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads). (Of course as soon as we put them to bed, I thought of a bunch of fun ideas of things we could have done if we had known we were doing our own thing. Oh well.) 

We didn't really have anything to put together this year, so we set everything out and got to bed early.

The kids woke up a little after 7:00 am. I insisted on doing Peyton's hair before we went out to see our gifts (and I'm so glad I did because it looked awesome - if I do say so myself). The first thing Peyton saw was her Doc McStuffins doll and it was love at first sight!

She got Doc McStuffins and a Doc McStuffins doctor kit (want), snow boots (need - opened before we left for Colorado), princess dresses and shoes (wear), and a Doc McStuffins Busy Book (read). Her stocking had a few books for church, a candy cane filled with Reese's Pieces, Doc McStuffins Band-aids, play jewelry, a Dorothy Itty Bitty, and the Little People Sleeping Beauty pack (Aurora and the good fairies).

The Doc McStuffins doctor kit has been fun - with many checkups given already!

The princess dresses and shoes were quite a hit. She got Rupunzel... 

And Snow White.

Corbyn got some Marvel Super Hero Mashers (want), a booster seat (need - opened before we left for Colorado), a Ninja Turtle Backpack (wear), and a DC Super Friends Busy Book (read). His stocking had a couple books for church, a candy cane filled with Reese's Pieces, Ninja Turtle Band-aids, a Spider-man Itty Bitty, and Leonardo and Raphael Half Shell Heroes. 

He's really been enjoying making his own super heroes and bad guys from the Super Hero Mashers he got - Spider-man, Iron Man, Green Goblin, and Captain America.

His tiny Jake backpack he got when he started joy school was falling apart and not really big enough for the papers he was bringing home from preschool, so it was definitely time for an upgrade.

I got a waffle cone maker (want), a wireless mouse (need), a pearl bracelet (wear), and 21 Days Closer to Christ (read). My stocking had a smoothie cup, The Hunger Games, Mickey Mouse: Season 1, a Reese's tree, mascara, eye shadow, bobby pins, and razor blade refills. Rog always gets me a surprise gift that I have no idea about. This year it was Catching Fire.

Santa got us both Friends: The Complete Series on Blu-ray. 

Rog got a Z Tek Bow (want), a journal (need), white dress shirts (wear), and The Hobbit (read). His stocking had a smoothie cup, Inception, Now You See Me, a candy cane filled with M&M's, and razor blade refills.

His bow was supposed to be a surprise, but one day while walking through Walmart, Corbyn saw one like it and told him that was what we got him for Christmas. I was bummed my surprise was ruined, but he has loved it!

He goes through quite a few white shirts these days!

After opening gifts, we got ready for the day and had a yummy breakfast made by Dixie. (She has been working at Kneaders in hopes of her and Mike opening a franchise soon, so she knows how to make all their food!)

Then we headed over to see the Hobbs. We wanted to do a cousin gift exchange this year and since there are only 4 cousins, we decided to have Peyton and Skyler exchange gifts and Corbyn and Blake exchange gifts. Peyton got Skyler the Little People Sleeping Beauty pack and Skyler got Peyton a Duplo Lego Ice Cream set.

Blake and Corbyn got each other the Super Hero Mashers Hulk. It was super fun to watch them open them at the same time!

We did FaceTime with the Riries in Utah and watched Grandpa and Grandma open the gifts we all chipped in to get them. Grandpa got a coat (his old one was from the 80's or 90's - pink and turquoise and he couldn't wear it without his children making fun of him) and Grandma got the Little People Disneyland toy for her grandkids to play with.

The kids played with Blake's new toys and Rog played with Jason's new toy - a remote control helicopter.

After hanging out with the Hobbs for awhile, we went back to exchange gifts with all the Phillips. In the cousin exchange, Corbyn got a Batman Lego set from Rocky and Peyton got a feeding set for her dolls and threadable blocks from Aiden.

From Grandpa and Grandma, each kid got an outfit and a couple toys (except for Peyton - she got more than a couple because with Mae in Canada, she was the only girl there and was therefore a little more spoiled than the boys). Corbyn got a Raphael action figure and a Lego City car/wave runner set. Peyton got a BYU apron, a cute stool, a pink elephant tote, and a tea set. We let them all open their gifts at the same time, so it was complete chaos for a few minutes there!

Then we did the sibling gift exchange - Rog got Guardians of the Galaxy from Edda and I got a Greg Olsen Nativity puzzle from Kenzie. We also watched Grandpa and Grandma open their gifts - a coat for Mike (although I don't think his old one was quite as old as my dad's) and a Kindle Fire and book of pictures McKae put together for Dixie.

We had a nice traditional dinner with ham, turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing waffles (so good), jello salad, etc... With Mike's famous Lemon Meringue pie for dessert. And then had a nice chill evening.

The next day I took the kids with me to Hallmark to get some ornaments at 50% off while Rog went with his dad to Foot Solutions to get some shoes that will hopefully help heal his feet.

Then my sister-in-laws threw me a shower. It was for me and Rog's cousin, Pam, who just had a baby girl in early December.

We had lunch at Olive Garden and before Pam arrived, some people stopped to ask if I was having twins based on the blue and pink balloons - thank heavens I'm not!

I was a little jealous Pam got to bring her baby to the shower!

It was fun for Diana to be able to come to the shower. It's so convenient that they moved into the same city as Rog's family!

Logan's Christmas came a day late!

While we were at the shower, Rog and the kids played in the new-fallen snow.

When I got home I found that Corbyn was coming down with a cold - wouldn't be a trip to see cousins without someone getting sick! In this case our whole family got sick and we are just now finally getting over it!

Kenzie and McKae had decided it would be fun for Grandpa to make pinewood derby cars with his grandkids. Corbyn wasn't feeling up to helping make his, but Peyton had fun cutting and sanding her car with Grandpa.

We gave Corbyn some medicine and he perked up enough to decorate and race his car.

 

It really was such a fun activity. All the kids (particularly Corbyn, Jaxon, and Peyton) had a blast racing their cars over and over again on the track that Grandpa built. (It was too bad Aiden, Sam, and Cade had to miss out - they were sick at home.)

We had an uneventful drive home on Saturday. (Thank goodness!) We made it back in time to stop at Grandpa and Grandma Ririe's house for dinner and to open our presents from them. Rog got a Columbia jacket. I got a waffle cone holder (to go with my waffle cone maker), a set of 4 Thomas Kinkade Disney puzzles, a BYU sweatshirt, and Maleficent. Corbyn got a breakfast play-doh set, a soccer net, Avenger Potato Heads, and some of the small Playskool Avenger toys. Peyton got Minnie and Cinderella play-doh sets, a jewelry box, Frozen Sing-a-long, a Frozen Busy Book, Minnie Candyland, and a Tinkerbell dress.

On Sunday we had the Petrosinos over for dinner after church. It was fun to see them and catch up with them while they were in town for Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We were spoiled with many fun gifts, but more importantly, we got to spend time with family and remember the birth of our Savior.