Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas!!!

Our day started out bright and early, just like last year! Thankfully Kyrie gave us an extra hour to sleep in this year, coming in at 4am. And luckily we were able to give her a laptop and put her on a few shows to keep her occupied for a few hours. She came back in at 7, so we got everyone up at that point.

The kids were super excited to see that Santa had come and had set their stockings and some presents out by the tree (Santa doesn't wrap!). Kyrie got a hair crimper, Asher got 2 costumes (Optimus Prime and a fireman), and Cambria got a pink shopping cart. Then of course they had their stockings full of fun, random stuff.

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

But that wasn't all! A few minutes later, we realized Santa had brought us some other fun things that had been set up in the family room!

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

After the stockings and such were opened, then we moved on to the other presents. We decided to take it nice and slow this year. Derk handed one person a gift, then we all watched them open that gift. It was so great doing it that way, and we all really enjoyed seeing what everyone got. The kiddos all did so great at waiting their turn for presents!

They got such fun things this year! My mom sent the kids a lot of stuff, but my favorite things were these darling towels and the gorgeous clothes for the girlies. Kyrie thought the penpal set from her Aunt Rebecca was awesome and cannot wait to write her first letter! And Asher was just beyond ecstatic about the video games from Derk. He kept thanking us and hugging us over and over. :-)

I was really ambitious this year and planned on making the kids quite a few things. Unfortunately time got in my way, and I wasn't able to make everything. I did make the girls both aprons, I made all us girls towel head wraps, and then I made Bri a really cute chef set (hat, oven mitts, and pot holders).

The kids each picked out a gift for each of their siblings. They were SO cute watching each other open their gifts. And then they were all so sweet and hugged each other and said thank you. It was so precious. Cambria was hysterical and kept holding out her arms and would say, "I'm WAITING for my hug!!" Here's a picture of her doing just that! :-)

A few months ago, Derk told me about this cookbook that had just come out. It was full of recipes from all sorts of bands/singers. It combined his love for food AND music, so I knew I had to get it for him.

The fact that he not only let me take a video AND a picture of him but told me to take several videos was enough proof to me that it was a huge hit! :-) Bri is hysterical in the background of this video! Derk was taking a bit too long admiring his cookbook, and she was getting a wee bit impatient. ;-)

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

The kiddos got an awesome karaoke machine from Derk's parents!

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

Kyrie had a great idea for a gift for Derk, and we just made it from all the kids since it was a bit more expensive. I love how she wrote on the tag that it was MOSTLY from her. ;-)

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

Here's a video of another gift of Derk's and then one of Kyrie's. How CUTE is that hair dryer?!

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

The most exciting gift was one we gave Kyrie. She's been saying for months that she wanted this, and we'd already had it purchased. But we kept on telling her she wasn't old enough, blah, blah, blah, to throw her off track so she'd be super surprised on Christmas. I just love how her smile gets bigger and bigger with each passing second! :-)

Untitled from Hillary Stephens on Vimeo.

After presents, we made a delicious crepe breakfast, which is a tradition from my family growing up that I just can't let go. Even though it's a lot of work, it wouldn't be Christmas without crepes! We all stuffed ourselves, and then we just relaxed for a bit. In the afternoon, we went to our friend's the Wilhites for dinner, which was super fun. It was great being around friends since we couldn't be with our family, and we have a blast hanging out with them. Plus, they have a little baby, so I got to hog him for an hour or so. :-)

We hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas we did! We certainly love and miss all of our family and wish we'd been with you. But your wonderful cards and gifts and phone calls made it feel as though we weren't quite so far away. Thanks to everyone! And merry Christmas!!