Tales of Cameras, Christmas, Blizzards and Blackouts

Well, it's over. Another Christmas has come and gone. All the shopping, wrapping, stressing, baking, singing, and storytelling has come to an end. And I must say, it was all very much worth it in the end. We had a wonderful Christmas, despite the minor setbacks of a sick Isaac, an angry Eli, and an even angrier Snow Miser (you know, the guy who sends all this blasted snow down upon us every winter).

It was a pretty relaxed and comical Christmas morning. We were so excited for the kids to see what Santa had brought each of them, and as usual, they surprised us in their reactions. Instead of going for her Littlest Pet Shops set that she's been begging for since July, Alayna headed straight for Eli's stocking and started getting all excited about his rattles and Fisher-Price toys, saying "Wow, Mom, look what Santa brought me!!!" Um, no, that's for your 3 month old brother. Isaac, on the other hand, knew which stocking was his but completely bipassed his big gifts and started raving about his new toothbrush. You know, this kind of thing happens every year so I don't know why I still opperate under the dilution that the bigger the present, the happier they'll be. Not so. All these sweet little kids needed was a new tooth brush, some cheap candy, and a dollar store toy to tote around. Funny kids.

I did get my camera, by the way, and have been having so much fun taking all kinds of awesome pictures. So, for your viewing delight, here are a few of the best ones. I've taken probably 200 pictures since Tuesday but I only posted a few. As for the 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I didn't get that. I did get 6 1/2 hours of semi-uninterrupted sleep, but I'll take it!

Here we are in front of our dying Christmas tree. Why can't everyone just smile all at once and get it over with?!
My new camera does fancy sepia and black and white pictures, so here is little Sepia Eli. What a face!

No folks, you don't need to adjust the color on your computer. Eli's face always turns that lovely shade of crimson when he's mad. It matches his new Santa hat, which he obviously loves!

This is our basement on Christmas Eve after the kids had gone to bed. So peaceful, so clean, so festive.....


And this is our basement approximately 30 minutes after the kids had awakened Christmas morning. They do quick work.

Isaac was very excited about all his fabulous gifts, which included a homemade marble track, fighting remote control robots, a Leapster and some games. Oh, and his new toothbrush.
Princess Alayna got a crown, princess dress-up trunk, a Littlest Pet Shop set, and her very own Hello Kitty CD player.

Eli got a Fisher Price dinosaur (thanks to KSL), a fabulous activity center (thanks to Grandma and KSL), and a Gloworm (didn't we all have one of those as kids? I know I loved mine!).

And the favorite gift this year is.......................battery powered toothbrushes!!!!

While enjoying the festivities of Christmas, Mother Nature was hammering our end of the valley with buckets and buckets of snow. I'll bet we got 18 inches! It was crazy, and is actually still snowing as I write this! Will it ever end? Will it every melt? How will the garbage man come? Or the mailman? I can't drive in snow...will I ever get to leave the house? All valid questions today.

Here's a random picture of Mr. Eli. He's kind of fat. And very cute.

On Christmas evening we had planned to go over to Jason's parents house for our annual Christmas party and gift exchange. I was skeptical about driving all the way to Riverton in the blizzard, especially since our streets weren't plowed and our car is rear wheel drive. Well, we decided to go, totally unaware that the power was out at Grandma's house. It ended up being a very interesting party. 14 kids, 16 adults, lots of food and presents, all in the dark. We had a few flashlights to light the way, but it was definitely not ideal. Still, it makes for a good Christmas memory!

Hope everyone had as much fun as we did!