And the festivities Continue...

 The morning of the 26th we said goodbye to our Christmas visitors. Uncle Stephen and Aunt Bridgette went back to Arizona, and Nonna and Uncle Jared went back to Utah County.

 Then, we unwrapped presents that Blake's parents sent over for the kids.

 Grant was our official "present taster" to make sure none of the packages were poison ;)

 The last few years, Blake's mom has sewn new blankets for the kids each Christmas. My kids love their blankets and snuggle with them throughout the whole year.

 Mr. Grant thinks he's getting so big. He started standing on his own and his getting pretty confident in his new trick. I'm sure we're not too far away from walking.

 And the shenanigans continue!

Christmas Day

 Blake and I didn't get to bed until almost midnight on Christmas Eve. But  Blake still woke up at 5:45am. In turn, he woke me up at 6 and neither of us could go back to bed. I was content to just lay there and read, but Blake was antsy. He thought he heard the kids awake at 6:30, so he went and cracked open their door. Turns out, they weren't awake, but opening the door woke them up! So we were up and ready for presents at 6:30 am. This Christmas as so fun. Both the older kids are at this super fun, magical age where everything is real. They believe in Santa with their whole hearts and since we don't put any wrapped gifts under the tree until Christmas Eve night, it is so fun to see their faces as they came out of their room to see what Santa had left. Grant was still asleep while all this was going on and we decided to just let him sleep in. Porter and Brooke were also so great to be patient while we took turns opening gifts. There wasn't any pouting or fighting or meltdowns. It was really, really nice.

 Santa brought each child a box of character-themed cereal in their stocking.

 Brooke's Christmas was different this year than in year's past. She got more "grown up" items like a hand sanitizer key chain for her school backpack and a new money bank that counts your coins.

 Porter got a ninja turtle costume which he insisted that he immediately get dressed up in it.

 The kids went shopping for Blake and I and Porter picked out a remote controlled monster truck for Blake. Porter was so excited to give it to Blake and they've had fun playing with it together.

 Grant decided to wake up and enjoy some Christmas morning with us. He really didn't know what to think of all the excitement going on.

 Dad had to tempt Grant with some wrapping paper to get him interested in opening his gift.

 I actually enjoy the mess on Christmas morning (it's just part of the experience to me), but Blake hates it and insists on cleaning up as we go. Since we've been married, the garbage can has made an appearance in our Christmas morning pictures. I try hard not to get shots with the garbage in the background, but sometimes it cannot be helped.

 After breakfast, my family came over and we had round 2 of opening presents.

 Nonna got Brooke a Monster High doll and a bath set with different body washes.

 Uncle Jared got Porter a batman dress up costume.

 Grant loved trying on the mask too.

 Like I said, Blake hates the mess of Christmas but was very pleased with how well all the empty boxes nested inside each other. Seriously folks, this was present all in it's own.

 After presents, the kids got bundled up for our Christmas day tradition of sledding behind the four wheeler.

Blake even got me to go for a ride! Unfortunately, I am not as light as the kids so hitting all the rocks burried under the snow was hard on my backside! But we still had fun.

 At the top of this steep hill, Blake and I both climbed into the sled (which was built for children) and went down together. I thought we were going to die as we careened down the hills straight toward a huge pile of sagebrush, but we survived ;)

The rest of Christmas day was spent busily preparing for our Christmas feast. We had a turkey in the oven, a ham to warm up, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed corn casserole (which I burned on Christmas day, but did a redo on the 26th), rolls, a salad, and pies to eat for dessert. It was delicious! Although I am seriously contemplating just getting a deli tray for Christmas day next year :)