Christmas 2008

This Christmas was unlike any other we have ever had. We were actually the hosts to my family this year. I wasn't really sure how it would all turn out but it ended up being wonderful. My parents and siblings drove down from Washington on Christmas Eve and Mario had to work, so the boys and I spent the day cleaning and cooking. I made a huge dinner of pot roast, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (my favorite!), rolls, salad, fruit salad, and Martenelli. We ate at about 10pm because that was when my family got here. It was so nice to sit as a family all together! Adrian, Jennifer, and Daniel are all students at BYU-Idaho so I don't get to see them too often. Adam was beyond excited but very sleepy. We had put him to bed at 7pm and then woke him up to eat and open presents.

After dinner we had a little family home evening where we learned the real meaning behind the colors and symbols of Christmas. Adam said this was his favorite part of Christmas.

Then at Midnight we opened presents. In Ecuador they have dinner late and then open presents at midnight, so we thought that might be fun to do so Mario wouldn't feel so homesick. I know he really missed his family but he enjoyed carrying the tradition on to our new little family. Opening the presents really woke Adam up but Tyler fell asleep...oh well!

Once again our "small" Christmas turned into tons of gifts but you could really feel the love and thought that went into each gift. We like to open the presents one at a time and have everyone watch. Once Adam opened a big box of toys and said in a very bored voice, "More toys..." Then he opened a box of pajamas and gleefully yelled, "PAJAMAS!!!" Crazy kid!

At about 1:30am we all stumbled off to bed. It was a great Christmas Eve! The best part was that we got to sleep in Christmas Day since the presents were already opened. My dad made us our traditional Christmas/Easter breakfast of eggs benedict (kinda...only way better!). I had so much fun with all the nice meals because I got to set the table with my Christmas dishes, gold chargers, goblets, etc.

After breakfast Tyler got to open his presents since he was asleep the night before. Adam was kind enough to help Tyler out a little.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing in pajamas, napping, playing with toys, watching movies, and of course...eating lots. In the evening we had a nice little program were we read the christmas story from the Bible and sang songs. We even did our traditional singing of Silent Night in all the languages we know. Usually with the whole extended family we have several languages, but we only did English and Spanish. It was a wonderful Christmas!