Christmas Morning

We had the BEST Christmas ever!!!!

Our morning started out with Harrison coming up and saying he wanted to watch TV! Come on! Tv?? It's Christmas! So we rolled out of bed and asked if the kids were up, and he said no. I couldn't believe it. Almost 7:00 and everyone was sleeping? No way! They were all up and playing with Marley, as in Bob Marley, our new pup! Jackson said he got up at 2:00 and heard scratching, and being the good cub scout that he is, he decided to investigate. Sweet Marley had a warm welcome into the Balkman Bunch! Everyone absolutely adores him. Santa brought new bikes for Miles, Jackson and Adeline. And a new bike HORN for Harrison! Hey, his bike is still great. And then the token singing toothbrushes and shaving kits, and the candy so you can put the toothbushes to good use! He also brought Dance Dance Revolution so you can all come over and have a dance party with us! Everyone loved their presents, except Adeline got a pink bike which is definately NOT cool for a 5th grader! Mrs. Claus tried to tell Santa that, but he just wouldn't listen. So we made a trip to the store where Santa is allowed to make exchanges and everyone is happy today.

Finally we moved into the "present unwrapping room" and the elves began their job of passing out the presents. I think everyone was actually happy with what they got! Here is a quick peek at the best of thet best: Jackson got the microscope he has been begging for, Miles an MP3 player, Adeline a sock monkey and Webkinz, Harrison hot wheels, Zoe a baby doll, Thad ties and very sexy biking shorts, and I got an Ipod!! I'm so excited!!! We got a few Wii games for the family, and I got a cookbook that is actually in ONE piece and the pages are even in the correct order...imagine that!
After opening and playing, we started cleaning up to get ready for Christmas dinner. We had Maureen Blackman come over and her kids Jon, Robert and Kerri. We also had the sister missionaries. We had the most delicious dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, ambrosia, veggies, rolls, cranberries. We had fudge and pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert. So yummy! If only we could always eat like this! :)

While Maureen and I did dishes (thanks Maureen!!!) everyone played games, and then while we sat on the couch and rested, they played some more! I didn't want it to end! I seriously couldn't believe Christmas was coming, and now I can't believe it's over! Thanks everyone for all your presents and phone calls! And Steve and Susan, hopefully UPS finds your presents somewhere in the snow so you can enjoy them before everyone leaves!!