Baxter Christmas

We kept Christmas going by celebrating with the Baxter family today.  It was a beautiful day- the boys were in shorts and loved being outside.  AJ brought his magic set to show off some of his tricks; everyone was very impressed.  Ty brought his iPad to show everyone what Santa brought him.  We enjoyed a yummy brunch and then opened presents.  Everyone ripped them open; Layla got a kitchen, AJ got a BB Gun, Ty got a bow-and-arrow and Mark got trucks, an airplane and much more.  AJ got a good lesson on his gun from Uncle Collin and he shot really well.  Ty had arrows flying all over the yard.  Layla came out and wanted to play with the boys' toys and Jeff told her "Go to your kitchen, the boys will kill it so you can cook it" haha!  The kids were outside for a while and got very muddy so Papa made them bag overalls.  It was a great day and amazing weather for Christmas time!

Christmas Day

It's Christmas and Santa came!  He ate the cookies, drank the milk and fed the reindeer the carrots and even wrote the boys a note.  Ty was up first, so we had him wake his brothers up to see what Santa brought.  The boys were excited and wanted to open their presents fast- we had to pace them, and of course I needed my coffee before we did anything.  They opened their stockings first, Mark just flipped his upside down and poured everything out.  Then they started opening; the boys got everything they wanted and more.  AJ got his Parrot Drone, a google play gift card, some DVD's, and a bike speedometer.  Ty got bleyblades, an art set, an iTunes gift card, and Santa fixed his iPad- no more cracks.  The older boys got an Axe set and walkie talkies to share.  Mark got a hot wheels race car set, Blaze puzzles, and a light saber.   

We ate chocolate Krispy Kreme donuts and played with all the new toys!  Nannie came over and brought lots of presents.  Mark loved his new light up car and loop track and played with it right away.  The boys made a design on their spirographs and played their new xbox games.  We had a steak dinner with lots of sides and it was yummy.  Later we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and had cake.  It was a great day to celebrate; the kids had lots to play with all day!

Cookies for Santa

After church and dinner at Waffle House, we had to hurry home to make cookies for Santa.  The boys were checking the "Santa Tracker" App on my phone and Santa was getting close.  AJ had looked up a recipe a few days ago for Santa's Favorite Cookies and they were m-n-m cookies with sprinkles.  We followed the recipe and made about 2 dozen.  Then we put the carrots on a plate for the reindeer and of course some milk for Santa to wash down his cookies.

Family Pic

I love looking back at all our Christmas family pictures over the years, but it always a challenge to get just the right picture.  Here are this years attempts;

Setting up the camera . . .

Ty is too squinty, Mark is talking . . . let's try again

AJ and Ty- open your eyes! . . . one more time

yay!  5 smiles!  We'll take it!

Gingerbread House

The tradition continues with building a gingerbread house at Christmas time.  At first our house didn't have enough frosting and the roof slid right off.  AJ repaired it by adding lots of frosting and it held up for a while until the boys covered it with candy, making it heavy and it slid again.  So we decided it was time to eat it.  No time for a finished house picture. :-)

Making Chocolates

Like the past few years, we've been making chocolates to give as gifts and the older boys were interested in helping.  They made a tray of chocolate pretzels and made Oreo Truffles from start to finish.  They did great, but kept wanting to lick their fingers and utensils.  I guess I can't blame them.  I love having helpers in the kitchen!

Ralph

We weren't sure if our elf was going to find us at our new house, but he did!  He's been up to his usual mischievous ways.  Ty loves looking for him every morning.