CHRISTMAS 2011

Christmas Eve Day:
Brandon and Irey got to go to a movie with the other dads and cousins. They saw The Adventures of Tin Tin in 3D. Brandon loved it, as he does most animated movies! Irey is just thrilled to watch a movie and eat popcorn.

I stayed home and cleaned while Reese napped. Believe it or not I was thrilled to be able to just scrub my kitchen in peace while listening to Christmas music.

Christmas Eve with the Schroeppel clan:
We got some wings from the Wing Shack, a meat tray from Costco, I made some rolls, and lots of other yummy appetizers to stuff ourselves with. Then we began the present opening! It took HOURS...

 The grandkiddos (minus Hunter)

 My mom got the grandgirls a cute Barbie house with the entire collection of Disney Princess barbies. They were so excited they couldn't even focus on taking a picture. I can't blame them, I wanted to play!

 Irey drew Gracie's name in the cousin present drawing. We got her a Mini Mouse pot and pans set from the Disney store. SO stinking CUTE! It went great with her new play kitchen she got from Santa!

 Hallie drew Irey's name! She got her a Baby Alive doll. Irey is SO in love with her. She has named her Allie and she is now a very important part of our family.

 Reeser and Daddy. She really enjoyed the wrapping paper.

 As if my parents haven't spoiled the kids enough, my mom got the three older girls the Belle Animators Doll from the Disney store WITH the Belle dress up! They girls were in HEAVEN! SO much fun!

 In the sibling drawing I drew Amy. This lucky little hottie got two MAC eyeshadows and a MAC lipglass. Amy is pretty much the easiest and funnest person to shop for. She can never have too much of anything and LOVES anything makeup and clothes.

 All of our guys enjoying a nice cold glass of milk and some Oreos.

 I love the Reese looked like a little Christmas present with her big bow on top of her head. This was her VERY FIRSTS CHRISTMAS! She loved all the wrapping paper, now she is enjoying her toys, once the paper got thrown away. Presents are pretty much all about the package until kids are like 3! Gotta love it.

 Jake drew Brandon's name. He got some protein powder that he was wanting... weird guy!

 Brandon drew Luke's name and got him throwback Pepsi, Peanut butter M&Ms, and hot wing Ruffles all with money taped to it;)

My cute little brother (who is like half a foot taller and 60lbs heaver then me, so not sooo little) C.J. got me a Cricut Cartridge for my Cricut cutter! I adore it.

 My sisters and I conspired against my mom and her healthy eating habits and made sure to include her favorite treats in every present, muahahah!

 I busted up laughing when mom opened Jamie's present because of the HOT purple shirt that was included. Back in July we went to St. George on a girls trip. While at Kohls we MADE my mom try on the It's all good in the hood Sesame Street shirt to send a pic to our dad. If you knew my mom, you would know how FUNNY this is. Well Jamie found it online and included it in the gift. It made for a good chuckle. One of these days we will force her to wear it to the gym! I love my weird family, I am always in good company.

 Traditional sister picture.

 Later at home we opened the P.J.s...

 My cute little snowflakes!

SANTA CAME!!!

 Irey got some new P.j.s, underwear, Dora chapstick, Princess toothbrush and toothpaste, a crayola box full of markers, crayons, glitterglue, magic mold, coloring books, etc. and in her stocking is full of her favorite treats. Santa just knows her SO well!

Irey also got the Loving Family doll house! She plays with this toy in her room for hours. Santa just has a way of knowing what special toy will keep the kids entertained!

 Santa was sure nice to Brandon this year...

 Even sweet little Reese got some fun goodies in her stocking!

 

Maybe the cookies and milk made him feel extra jolly?

Christmas Morning:

We woke up and Irey as still sound asleep. We woke her up and she was kinda in a funk. Her tummy was hurting her and she wasn't as enthusiastic as I would have hoped. But eventually she warmed up and got into the present mode! Come on kid, get greedy! Gosh I must not be raising her right!

 After the presents, we quickly got ready for church. I wasn't feeling the Christmas spirit until I got there. There is this woman in my ward who has given birth to twins a few months ago. She nearly died in the delivery and has been making a slow recovery ever since. She hasn't been able to even hold her sweet babies. I couldn't imagine what hell she has endured these past two months. Well as I hear a soft newborn cry, I look over my shoulder and there is that dear woman, holding her baby girl! The fact that she was AT church and able to hold her baby was so amazing to me, I felt the TRUE Christmas spirit pour over me and I began to cry. Christ's love for us is truly an amazing gift!

 After church we went over to the Blackwell's. We ate a yummy brunch and then opened more presents.

 All us Blackwells (except Mike, Brittanie, and Evelette).

 Irey digging into her stocking from gma Mimi.

 Reese with her cute stocking. Great Gma Carma makes all these stocking for each new member of the family! The woman has mad skills!

 Brielle drew my name for Christmas and gave me some very cute earrings and a GC to forever 21! SO in love.

I had Brenda. She got a quad of MAC eyeshadows, makeup bag, and brushes. She got super sick while we opened presents and had to go lay down. I didn't get a pic of her:(

 Gma and Pa spoiled Irey and Reese! Irey got this Tangled doll, a mini van that goes with her Loving Family doll house, dress ups, Tangled Disney Barbies, and a whole lot more!

 Brent and Brenda spoiled us as well. To top all of it off they gave us a deep freezer!

 Brandon drew Brianna and he gave her two MAC eyeshadows and a makeup bag. Gosh, he just knows what a girl wants!

Mike had Brandon and he got him a mall GC.

We ended up relaxing the rest of the day. The kids have fun playing Dance dance... something something. We ate a fabulous dinner and finished off the night watching 17 Miracles. SO good and a perfect movie for the day! 

It was a weird Christmas with no snow, and everything just felt different, I don't know how to explain that one. But overall it was a great Christmas because we got to surround ourselves with our family! 

I am so grateful for the experiences we have had this year that have put things into perspective. I don't think I have ever seen Brandon more worn out between his two jobs (working 1am to 6pm everyday), plus finishing up his semester of school, he has truly been stretched to his limit. On top of how crazy things have been for Brandon, I was working like crazy this month and felt like a single parent with two kids. So when there was those moments when we could be together as a family, they were priceless and so precious to me, I savored every second. I am constantly being reminded how important my little family is. NOTHING else matters. I know that because of my Savior I have them forever and that makes me feel the spirit of CHRISTmas more then anything else.  It would also be so easy to hate our situation in life right now, and hate the hours we work and the sacrifices we have to make to provide essentials like insurance for our little family, but instead we try really hard to remember what a blessing our jobs are and how many families are going with out this year. At times, I want to cry and ask WHY do we have to DO SO MUCH? But I am quickly humbled and change my perspective to HOW and WHY are GIVEN SO MUCH. I love all the fun traditions of this season but more then that I am glad I have this dedicated season to reflect on all the blessings my life has because of my Savior. 

I am already looking forward to next year, hopefully UPS will be more gentle or better yet, no longer a factor in our lives? Keeping my fingers crossed;)