christmas oh! nine {part two}

ava awoke around 7:30am and excitedly asked if santa had come to our house. we all got up to see and ava gasped when she saw the plate of eaten cookies, the key and a handwritten letter from the big guy himself. he even went as far as to turn the countdown numbers one last time to reveal that there were "00" days left 'til christmas.

ava was ecstatic. we went in to wake up emaline and tell her the good news. she's a snoozer so she was not ready to wake up but did anyways. 30 minutes later she was grumpy as could be and wanted to go back to bed.

ava had asked santa for some tools and a barbie.

i love how well rounded this little girl is. i had no idea where she had come up with the tools idea, but she was certainly set on asking for some for christmas. and she must've been a pretty good girl this year 'cause santa certainly delivered.

her favorite gifts were the tools and the princess shopping cart santa had dropped off, and the beautiful cinderella doll her daddy bought for her.

emaline's favorite gifts were her new shoes from us and the vacuum and shopping cart from santa.

bryce got some random things here and there. among the many, he got an electric razor. he hates electric razors but recently decided that he needed to give them another go, so i got him one. we'll see how it goes. he also got a wet/dry vacuum for the car, a digital coin counting jar, and some orthotic gel inserts for his work shoes since he's on his feet all day.

ava enjoyed picking out gifts for her sister and cousins, and had no problem giving these cool finds away to her loved ones. she helped wrap the gifts and stuck on labels that she scrawled her name onto. it was wonderful to see the excitement she had as she caught onto the spirit of giving. she had come home from preschool a few weeks prior with a special wrapped gift for me and bryce. she never disclosed what the present was, she understood that it was a surprise and kept quiet the entire weeks before christmas. it sat under the tree and still she never made a peep about it. on christmas morning, when i finally unwrapped it, my eyes filled with tears as i looked at the homemade calendar she had made with her teacher at preschool. each month had her handprint in the shape of something that corresponded with that month. january was a handprint snowflake, february was a handprint heart and so on. she beamed with pride as i looked it over. it was certainly my favorite gift that morning.

but that doesn't mean that i didn't have other favorites. my bryce. my dear bryce. he certainly outdid himself this year. but i'll save that for later.

after our christmas at our house, we ran to bryce's parents to talk to his youngest brother greg who is serving a mission for our church in canada. greg, is the closest sibling of bryce's to me and i was super excited to get a chance to talk to him. what a christmas treat!

after their house, we headed over to my parents for the rest of the afternoon and evening. there we opened presents and enjoyed a deliciously prepared christmas dinner. ava and em's had so much fun running amuck with their cousins.

family always makes this time of year better and i especially loved spending it with my own little ones and wonderful husband. it was a very merry christmas indeed!