Christmas Day

This Christmas was "the best Christmas ever!" if you talk to majority of the Stannix children. I started prepping and planning a few months in advance and had a nice little list of gifts that I knew the children would love. We told the littles they could wake up at 6:00am at the earliest, so at 6:01am I wasn't surprised to hear whispers and see lights turning on in the hallway. The big boys were the first ones up. They woke up the little boys and grabbed their stockings. Once Camilla woke they all hopped on our bed and opened their stockings and ate some treats. We then tip-toed out to the play room and turned on a Christmas movie while we waited for the rest of the house to wake.

Sawyer quietly crawled around the tree examining the gifts that magically appeared their over night! I love the quiet and stillness of Christmas morning by the tree. Soon Aunts and Uncles joined with little cousins. Next Gramma and Grampa. And finally, Nana and Auntie Faith arrived from out of town to join the fun.

Sawyer loved ripping the wrapping paper this year!

Present opening always feels like a whirlwind with this many kids, no matter how much you try to slow it down. We took our time and watched each child open their gifts.

Gramma and Grampa got the boys nerf swords. They love these things and will play with them forever!

Hyrum was so sweet with Sawyer all morning, putting his arm around him or carrying him. 

The boys both got new toques!

Nana gifted each of the kids a special beanie baby!

Oliver was thrilled with his new magnetic building toys and spent at least an hour in front of the tree building towers and connecting them together.

Hyrum made us a special ornament (which we need to glue back together) and wrote the sweetest card. These kind of gifts are my absolute favorite!

Camilla was thrilled with her new ukulele and has already learned how to chord "Silent Night" and "Twinkle Twinkle". 

Sawyer loves his new balance board (as do the older kids) and has found many uses for it already! I love open ended toys and this wooden board will last forever!

 

It can be used as a tunnel, a slide off the couch or a bed, a rocker and (as demonstrated by Camilla) a yoga board. I love that it helps kids be active and explore balance and make those important connections in their growing brains.

We loved having little cousins around this year for Christmas and when sweet Owen fell asleep under the Christmas tree, I couldn't help but snap a picture! We enjoyed a morning of visits and the turkey started to smell amazing in the early afternoon. My Mum is incredible and makes Christmas dinner look easy.

It was late afternoon before we all mustered up enough energy to venture up to the rink for a quick skate. 

I sure love this guy!

I'm so proud of Finley and the way he's picked up skating this year! It's fun watching him get more confident!

Camilla loved pulling cousin Whitney around on the sled.

Auntie dropped the puck for a two on two hockey game. They played hard until feet became sore and toes became cold.

It was a tad on the chilly side, but the scenery was sure beautiful!

We lasted just under an hour and then drove back to the house to help get dinner on the table. My Mum did an amazing job on the turkey and stuffing and we also had some awesome contributions of side dishes and veggies. It was so great to be with family this year!