Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

I hope everyone had a peaceful day today. Mine was a little hectic since we are leaving for a cruise tomorrow. However, it was still a great day.

Here are my little ones going to bed last night. Steve was the instigator of the pajamas!

We also had matching pajamas. I'm showing off the homemade gift (on my head) Steve (with the help of my sister, Becky) made for me. We always draw names and make a homemade gift. Steve had me this year and tried to make an embroidered pillow with no luck (he got through one small flower). So--he called Becky to help! This picture is a little scary since it was taken first thing this morning (which was 8:45 a.m. at our house--we were thrilled with the extra sleep!).

Here are the kids showing off their gifts from Santa. Sage got the American Girl doll she's been dreaming of and the rest of the kids got digital cameras.

Here is a family photo we took for our Christmas cards (we ended up using a different pose).

Just have to share something really funny. Collin got asked to the girl's choice Christmas sweater dance a few weeks ago. The next day a friend of mine called to ask if her daughter could ask Collin to the Sweater Dance or Preference which is in January. I gave the thumbs up on Preference since he'd already been asked to the other dance and that night the 12 Days of Christmas started for Collin. Well--the gifts were very cute but as they went on they got more and more elaborate and more and more flirty (kisses one day, candles the next, etc.). I loved the wrapping paper she was using (I have the same kind from American Crafts) and all the creative scrapbooking products she created (snowflakes, paper ornaments, paper chains, etc.). Collin began getting embarrassed and would get red when he got them although I could tell he enjoyed it. He was sure it was a girl in his newspaper class. Then last Saturday he got asked by another girl to Preference.

What should he do?? I called my friend and she said the 12 Days of Christmas wasn't from her daughter. He ended up saying yes to the other girl. Meanwhile the flirtatious 12 Days of Christmas continued. Today while opening our presents, the last present came. Collin couldn't wait to see who had done this kind deed for him. Guess who it was?? His sister, Brecken!!! She had drawn his name and the 12 Days of Christmas was her gift to him. We all got a big kick out of it!

Speaking of Collin, he is a very gift writer. He recently started a blog called cbwaytobe.typepad.com. (The "cb" stands for Collin Bearnson.) He wants to speak out to other teenagers on making the right choice and standing for things that are the very best. I was having a bad day on Tuesday (Costco in a crowd--need I say more?) when I came home and read Collin's Christmas post (scroll down to the second post). It truly put things into perspective for me! Unfortunately you can't leave Collin a comment on his blog, but you can leave one here for him. Let him know what you think about his message.

Finally, you MUST listen to my niece, Mallory, in her Christmas concert. I'm one proud aunt! Click here and scroll down to "O Happy Day."

I'll be gone for the next week. Stay tuned for some excited changes when I get back.

Have a great holiday season.

Sincerely,

Lisa

P.S. My friend, Carrie Smith, introduced us to a new, fun tradition. On Christmas Eve, Steve read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as we sat in a circle, each with a wrapped gift. When the word "the" was read, we exchanged gifts to the right. It was crazy and funny! At the end, everyone ended up with a sweet gift!

Also, my other Carrie friend (Carrie Heaphy) sent this in the mail. She's soooo creative! The stand is from Chatterbox. Love it!