Our family tradition includes LeRoy making breakfast before we open gifts and we usually have to wake the kids up. At 9:46 a.m. Daymia expressed with impatience, "It's daylight and the presents aren't opened yet!"
Of the candy filling the stockings Hyrum inquired of me, "You bought all that not healthy food?" I just looked at him without responding and he knowingly answered his own question. "I didn't think so. Dad is a candy machine."
The morning also began with a tearful Nathan. He had been asking since November if he could be the one to hand out gifts on Christmas Day. However, he was starting to show signs of a cold. He cuddled up to me as everyone was gathering and muttered, "I better not hand out presents this year because I'll get everyone sick". I gave him a hug, a vitamin C, and had him wash his hands and let his gift giving dreams come true. He was the gift finder this year . . . until about five gifts in and then he was tired of searching under the tree and just wanted to watch.
We began with stocking stufers and the kids yearly favorite, gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Fullmer. The younger boys loved their new books and the older kids were giddy about their origami money. The funny thing about the money is that the kids seldom spend the origami shapes that Grandma worked so hard to create.
It was fun to surprise LeRoy with a dart board for the game room. He and Levi spent most of the afternoon setting it up, figuring out the rules and trying to outdo each other.
Daymia secretly got the kids together and took new pictures of them as a gift to me. I had a hard time seeing the pictures through my tears; they were wonderful!
P.S. Derek and Vivien were unavailable in nearby Logan and faraway Slovakia so until then, their old pictures complete the set on the wall.
We were all excited for Daymia to open her gift from Levi. He had been told that it wouldn't be here until after Christmas and Daymia knew that so we all waited in anticipation for her reaction. She tried to hide her few tears and couldn't quit looking at it.
Justin couldn't wait to give Bret the Batman version of Starry Night. I don't know that Erika will let it hang next to her Van Gogh print of Starry Night but Bret was excited about the canvas. Erika seemed quite happy with her new stroller from her Daddy and a fluffy soft quilt and massage gift card with Rilda from me.
Derek has been collecting watches for several years now and his new watch case was the perfect display to show off most of his collection.
It wouldn't be Christmas without some kind of musical instrument or sheet music. Once Justin opened his new guitar his day was complete and he was in his own musical world. He strummed gentle tunes while the rest of us continued.
Nathan's Christmas wishlist was fulfilled with his Flash costume, a few books to read and his very own helicopter. He was even more excited when Levi received the same helicopter and they could learn how to use them together. I'm not convinced that he deserves his pilot's license yet but at least he's not knocking things off shelves or running into people anymore.
Though Hyrum was happy with his new circuit set, he was even happier that Derek could set up circuits with him and teach him how it all worked. He too was thrilled with books as well as a new heavy duty Nerf gun.
Charlie was content to watch the gift opening and occasionally snagged a box of his own to tear up.
No comments:
Post a Comment