Christmas Magic

Jeff and I were totally shocked by how fun it was to be parents on Christmas. I didn't even sleep very well on Christmas eve, I was so excited. I don't even remember being that excited when I was a kid. I woke up at 6, 6:15, 6:29, 6:48, 7, 7:15 etc until finally Hazel came in and tapped me and pointed to her long desired "princess yo yo" and whispered "Santa came!" I jumped up and followed her to her room and we looked through her stocking. We then went to tell Charlie that Santa came. Hazel pranced right in there and in her most excited voice (which is very excited) declared that it was so....Santa had come! They were so delighted by the little junky things filling their stockings that we realized that Santa really didn't need to bother bringing the rest of the stuff waiting downstairs. Hazel was probably most excited that Santa left her her very own pack of gum. She spent the whole day passing out pieces. We played upstairs and ate candy and clementines for quite a while before we could convince them that Santa might have left things even more exciting than gum downstairs. As soon as that idea dawned on them they scampered down the stairs and into the living room. They were both delighted that Santa really did bring them the few things they asked for.
Here's what they asked Santa to bring them:
Hazel:

1. a princess yo yo.....how she got this into her mind I have no idea....but she was set on that. Luckily Santa makes princess yo-yos. I was a little dubious.
   
2. legos. real legos.
   
3. Her favorite book: Leonardo the Terrible Monster.
   

Charlie:

1. A fire engin-gin-gin. (he never says this word without the extra gin gins)
   
2. A yo yo (Hazel added this to his list).

In addition to what they got from Santa they were extremely excited about:

1. Hazel: Her very on special special fragile tea set (from Grandma and Grandpa Shumway)
2. Charlie: A huge dump truck that he can push Hazel and various random things around in (from Grandma and Grandpa Shumway)
3. Hazel: a nutcracker from me....she was actually pretty freaked out by this gift. I don't know if we built it up too much as she was opening it (she had really liked the nutcracker when we went together and when she was opening I was telling her how special this gift was)....but when it came out of the box she didn't give her regular "OH! IT's just what I've wanted!" response, instead her face clouded over and her eyes welled up. Not sure why...but she snapped out of it as soon as Jeff started moving the nut-cracking mouth and talking in a funny voice.
4. Charlie: some pretty cool truck books (from G and G Shumway and the NW Nelsons)
5. Hazel: her very own Beauty dress up dress (from Gramie and Grandfather). She has been wearing a friend's dress and was thrilled to death to have her own.
6. Charlie: baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls and a bowl with balls on it (from Hazel)
7. Hazel: various crafts and puzzles.....she's really into these lately "It's JUST what I wanted!"
8. Charlie: a new "Bug" aka mini remote control helicopter (from Grammie and Grandfather). The one Grandma Shumway had sent Jeff had broken two months ago and at least once a day Charlie comes up to Jeff and says "Bug, broken?" Needless to say he was thrilled to have a new one.
9. Hazel: "Rock and Roll Dogs" the new version of "Philidelphia Chickens" (From the McFarlands). She has listened to it in all her car moments since.
10. Charlie: a farm vehicle set (from Aunt KieKu).....he can't get enough of tractors and trucks
    

I really could go on and on. They got so many nice gift that they were thrilled about and it really was magical to watch their delight. Hazel was so thankful for the things that she got and showed it by many hugs and "thank yous." Charlie was also pretty darn grateful, but showed it mostly by squeezing both shaking fists up by his face and making a really dramatic o mouth excited face and repeating "open it, open it, open it!"

Jeff looks a little sleepy here, but Hazel makes up for that. Hazel took this picture of Charlie. She's really into the camera lately....I'm happy about it because I kept forgetting to take pictures. At least we now have documented that Hazel gave Charlie a foam soccer ball that delighted him. It's EXACTLY what I wanted!!!

We spent the whole morning opening toys slowely and playing with each one. In fact, before we knew it it was time to get ready for our Christmas brunch. We had a huge mound of presents left to unwrap....but we took a break and made Eggs Benedict. Mom, how in the world do you get that so good amidst so much chaos year after year? We had a few coulple from the ward over to enjoy some great Eggs Benedict with way too thick Hollandaise sauce.....got to figure out how to get that one right. After brunch Charlie napped and we played and played and Jeff made a Christmas turkey to bring to our Christmas dinner at the Kruckenburgs. The dinner was really yummy and it was so nice spend Christmas with good friends who feel a lot like family. We didn't have time to get to the remaining pile of presents until after we got home....we were opening stuff until 10pm! The kids were getting much faster. Here's how the opening present conversation went by the end:
Charlie: open it, open it, open it! (open the wrapping paper) open it! open it! help! help! (get the toy out of the packaging) next present, next present!

Hazel: (opens a present....could be anything) "It's EXACTLY what I've always wanted! I LOVE it! (she really said that, with 100% enthusiasm after nearly every present....except of course when I was videoing here!:))Hazel and her new Nutcracker.

Hazel and her "Beauty Dress"

Jeff and I decided that we really have to cherish this magical year.....our kids were both totally delighted every little detail of Christmas. They had no expectations, no memory of last year to compare things too, we could pretty much tell them what they wanted (apart from the Princess Yo yo, Hazel came up with that one on her own). It really was magic....I found myself enjoying every tiny bit of our little family. What a gift.

I really took a lot more video than I did photos....so check out our youtube link for more details of our Christmas morning.