Christmas Morning

 Santa came!

Although we kept things low-key this year,

the boys still had an awesome Christmas.

Somehow, we've been blessed with kids that sleep in on Christmas.

My siblings and I would wake up SUPER early, and that's what

I expect from our kids, but it hasn't happened yet.

I am definitely not complaining!

 The tree

 Toy Story 3 LEGOs, Pixar Shorts DVD, AND a can of crayons & colored pencils!

Sam was thrilled.

 Hook's Hideout, ParaNorman, and a 

Jake and the Neverland Pirates Memory Game!

 A dinosaur ball popper, and Mike Wazowski!

 Opening more presents

 We got the boys (and Uncle Jesse) some MarioKart remote control cars.

I think they worked for 15 minutes and then broke.

Thanks, Nintendo.

 When Ben turned a year old, I made a "Year of Ben" book.

Sam had been asking me to make a "Year of Sam" book for him,

so I made a book for both of the boys of their first year.

I didn't blog when I had Sam, so a lot of his stuff was found in my journal,

and half completed baby calendar.

Apparently my blog makes me a better mom, because I actually record things like I should.

Christmas Breakfast.

I'm thinking this will be a new tradition.

My friend, Lisel, has made these a couple times, and they are A-Mazing!

I normally eat like 3-4!

I HAD to get the recipe from her, and I thought they would be perfect for Christmas morning,

especially because my boys always dig into their stockings right away, so 

sugary stuff was out of the question.

Sadly, I was having some serious morning sickness, so I couldn't even finish my 1,

but they were delicious!

After Christmas with our little family, we got ready and headed over to Manuel's family for Mexican food and more presents. Of course, I forgot my camera, so we don't have any pictures of that. :/ Afterwards, we went to my parents' house to Skype with Jesse. It was so great to be able to see him, even if it was just on the computer. He got to see how big Ben really is, and Sam and Mateo were happy to talk to him. 

We tried really hard to focus on the Savior this year. We talked about it all the time. One day, we were driving after dark, and the boys were looking at Christmas lights. All of a sudden Mateo yelled, "Mommy, STOP! Go BACK! I saw baby Jesus!" He had noticed a manger scene, and wanted me to turn around so he could see it again. Such a sweet boy. It was at that moment that I knew my kids really did understand why we celebrate Christmas. Presents and Santa are fun, but the best part of Christmas is the birth of our Savior. 

My absolute favorite Mateo-Christmas story came from his Sunbeam teacher. She told Manuel that as she was teaching the kids the Christmas story, she got to the part where there was no room at the inn. She tried to explain to the kids Mary and Joseph couldn't find a place to stay. Mateo looked at her with big eyes and said, "Baby Jesus can come stay at our house!" I'm so grateful for my sweet little boy who would welcome Jesus into our home in a heartbeat. I hope he stays that way.