the 25th.

christmas morning came a little earlier than usual this year. the kids were up at seven, ready to go. mean parent that i am, i only let them open one gift, cougar sweatshirts from gma and gpa wall, before breakfast, showers, pictures and church at 9am. to be fair, they were incredibly good about it. i just didn't want to feel rushed.

look how nice and orderly they sat as they opened their sweatshirts. i have never been a big fan of frenzied, paper-flying mayhem on christmas morning.

sweet roody has been struggling lately in photos. overlook his bowel movement strained face. the rest are beyond acceptable.

a group shot, taken shortly after mw got home from an early morning meeting and moments before we left for church.

mw and his boys.

it is tradition for the kids to get new shoes on christmas morning, whether they need them or not. i mean, it's shoes. you can never have too many.

gw loves his cars 2 carrying case. he fills it with cars and carries it up and down the stairs. he also arranges the cars in a specific way, with the help of aw, and plays with them in the dark, in his room, before he knocks and asks someone to "please let me out of here." ps, i removed the lightbulb from his ceiling light to discourage him from playing too late or too early. it has worked thus far.

the kids were crazy excited about their new xbox and kinect from their hoosier grandparents. cw would gladly play madden12 all day (thanks b&b).

mw and i promised not to exchange gifts. i was the only one who held up their end of the bargain. surprisingly, i don't feel bad. i refuse to take away from his fantastic and thoughtful gifts by feeling guilty that i didn't buy any for him.

i don't think aw expected to find a kindle under the tree. but santa went big this year and brought great gifts for the older kids.

i love this picture of cw. an itouch with a byu cover? more than he could have hoped for.

our best christmas yet. lots of hugs and "thank yous." lots of excitement and only a small mess.

santa brought roody a power scooter. looking back, not a smart idea. he is too daring. too lackadaisical when it comes to safety. but he loves it. he figured out how to skid on it. i tried. it's not possible for someone over fifty pounds.

everyone loves the cars 2 carrier. it's insane.

the pogo stick is awesome. i had a red one when i was a kid. roody figured it out first. shocking, i know.

aw was pretty good too. again, not something for someone over fifty pounds. i jumped on it and it didn't bounce back up. depressing.

honestly, taking stock of our blessings, both temporal and spiritual, i am overwhelmed with gratitude. a husband that loves me as much as i love him. four healthy, generally happy children. parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins that care for us. good friends that we can lean on. we've had some bumps and bruises along the way. but it has all evened out. it always does. we have so much to be thankful for. the least of which are the presents under the tree.