Merry Christmas to all

On Saturday we went to a Christmas party with Rich's family and had a lot of fun. Then we headed home to have a quiet Christmas in Idaho. We started the Christmas festivities with our tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. Rich had to work for awhile on Christmas Eve, so we let Kinley open her present in the morning in hopes that it would help entertain her while he was gone. And, it worked out beautifully.

Here she is opening her Tickle Me Elmo from her cousin Keenan. She was enjoying ripping off the paper, but when a tiny red circle in the box started laughing, she got a little nervous. Once Elmo was out of his box it was love at first sight. She loves to watch him laugh and flop all over. Elmo was lucky enough to get some gold fish, loves, kisses, and even had his own blanket...thank heavens she has a spare. A big thanks to Keenan and his clever gift, it helped fill some time yesterday so I could get some things done. I guess Kinley has a new best friend now.

Now on to Christmas morning. I always have a hard time sleeping Christmas Eve, I guess I'm just a little kid inside. Kinley woke up early and we raced downstairs to see what Santa brought. Santa was pretty good to us, brought some toys, clothes, shoes, and some yummy candy. Kinley quickly lost interest in unwrapping presents and seemed confused and overwhelmed. She seemed like she couldn't figure out what to play with. And by late afternoon, she was running a high fever and obviously not feeling well. She called it a day at 6:45 and left Rich and I to enjoy a quiet evening. Here are some pictures of her finding Santa's gifts and opening her presents.



We are very grateful for this Christmas season to reflect upon the birth and life of our Savior. We are grateful for our family and to have been surrounded by so many special people. It has been quite a year for us and we truly are blessed and are so grateful for this special time of year.