Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas! It was completely different than any celebration we've had before. Since our kids have grown older, we've spent every Christmas in Utah surrounded by family. This was our first Christmas on our own. And, it went really well! I was prepared for a bit of a let-down feeling. But, there wasn't any at all. I enjoyed being completely in charge of what traditions our family was going to follow, and the time frame on which every thing was set. It was also nice to really focus on our kids and to create a Christmas celebration with them especially in mind. I loved everything we did for our Christmas celebration and want to document it so it can be easily repeated next year.

Here's the Christmas rundown:

Christmas Eve afternoon activity: The Polar Express movie

Christmas Eve Dinner: Pepperoni pizza from our favorite pizza place. Yummy!
(This is something completely new to both Kevin and me. We both grew up in families who ate their big Christmas meal on Christmas Eve. We decided to have pizza on Christmas Eve to give Christmas Day a bigger climax. I loved celebrating this way! It also gave us more time to focus on our Christmas Eve program without all the food preparation and clean-up.)
Christmas Program:
(this is all on video)
Nativity, re-enacted (starring all of us)
Talent show (Susie sang When Joseph Went to Bethlehem, Tyler sang and signed Silent Night)

Christmas Carols with Candles
(Kevin's Aunt and Uncle introduced us to this tradition a few years ago. We turn out the lights and hold candles, while singing a mixture of fun songs and Christmas hymns. Because of our lack of singing skills, I did make a playlist on our iPod and also passed out lyrics.)
Movie of home videos & pictures from 2011
(We love this tradition! It is a great way to reminisce about the fun things our family did during the year.)
Ice cream sundaes (we ate the sundaes during the movie)
(Ice cream was supposed to be homemade, but I forgot to put the freezer canister into the freezer the day before. Oops!)
Christmas Eve Presents: PJs!
Matching PJs for the girls. BYU PJs for Tyler!
Reindeer Dust!
Letters, orange, cookie, & eggnog for Santa...
(Side note: Susie decided at the very last second that she really wanted that Rudolph stuffed animal--she had been talking about it off and on prior to Christmas--while she was writing a letter to Santa. We had to tell her he was already on his sleigh and it would probably be impossible for Santa to bring one to her!)

Bedtime story read by Kevin. How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The kids were in bed at 8pm! Of course... Tyler did wake up at 5:30 :)

Waking up on Christmas morning... Waiting to run out to the Christmas tree.
Christmas presents!

Amyah was a pro at opening presents!

Breakfast. Cinnamon rolls & hot cocoa!
Church. 1 hour meeting at 11am.
Played with Christmas presents all afternoon.

Christmas Dinner:
Grilled Tri-tip Roast
Au Gratin Potatoes
Carrots
Kevin's favorite cherry Jell0 with bananas
Amyah was a fan of the Jello!Homemade ice cream sundaes.
Drove around and looked at Christmas lights.

Here's to many Merry Christmases still to come! Hope yours was as bright as ours!