Christmas Vacation 2011

Our final school "thing" to get done before Christmas break was Nathan's program.  I let the older kids skip the last hour of school and we all attended it together.  Having the entire elementary school sing and dance and read to us was the perfect way to begin our holly, jolly vacation.

Our family home evening before Christmas had a BIG surprise!  Santa showed up!!  Nathan and Hyrum were speechless, until Santa took them in his lap to get their wish list.  He told Nathan that he had LeRoy on the naughty list but wondered if he could move him to the nice list.  Nathan paused as he lifted one eyebrow, looking to the ceiling in his thinking pose and then responded, "I think you should".

Christmas Eve brought the traditional pajama party which was new to Vivien.  The kids always get excited to open their new jammies but it was more fun this year to share the tradition with someone Vivien.  She took more pictures than I did and immediately sent them to her mom and sister.

Christmas morning began with a wonderful breakfast made by LeRoy, Nathan and Hyrum.  What a Sunday treat!  Going to church seemed to be the perfect way to celebrate Christmas!
 

After church the kids changed back into their pajamas and we opened gifts.  Smiles all around!!

Naps, books, games and of course candy canes, that's what Christmas is made of . . .

Some of my favorite pictures from the holiday:  

The kids were wondering what LeRoy would look like with hair so I took my pony tail and draped it over the top of his head.  Bald isn't so bad after all!  Justin and I couldn't get enough of each other.  He'd pull a prank on me, I'd attempt to get even and we usually ended up in a tickling wresting match until we were laughing so hard we were crying.  Vivien was attached to a Santa hat from the Christmas bin and wore it for most of the two weeks we had off.

  

The most touching part of Christmas was when we gave Vivien her stocking.  Each of us have a stocking that was cross-stitched either by my Grandma Hawkins or my mom.  I didn't want Vivien to feel left out so in November I asked mom if she could do a simple one for Vivien.  She took several patterns and put them together to create an original that would be meaningful for her year in the USA and still hold meaning when she went back to Slovakia.  During FHE when we pulled out our stocking and hung them, Vivien got quiet and seemed a little distant but when I handed hers to her she was SO HAPPY!  She hugged it and gently ran her fingers over it and took pictures of it and hugged it some more.