Christmas Morning

Guest author: Maris!! (with sidenotes by mom in parenthesis)

"We all lined up to get what presents so we know who was first."

Emma was opening a present and inside of the present was a fanny pack. It came with emergency water, bandaids, and some other stuff. (from Grammy, the kids all got one!)

 Owen found a big present and shaked it, from Santa was a big present that was not wrapped!  It was a big ship that came with another small ship, and he was so excited that he built it all that one day.

 All of us were looking at the things we got for Santa on our spots we had put them on the couch.  They had all got one type of big thing.  Emma found some gum!

 I was getting the thing that I've been always wanting: a slush maker!  We put in a drink and squished it on each side and ate it!

 Whitney was happy because she got a drone that she was always wanting.  She loved it so much that she brought it to her room and used it downstairs in the new playroom.

 Emma had always been wanting candy to her self. and a fingerling that she got.  And Owen showed Emma how to use a fingerling.

 Katelyn found a big box of candy that was chocolate!  She got a handful and put it straight into her mouth!

 Emma got her American Girl doll. (cheap walmart brand) She thinks that it's alive and she wants to play with it!

 Owen was opening a present and he saw more presents inside of the box that he opened.  It was super fun.

 A video of Maris opening a present.

I was opening a present. I found a BB8 book and another fun book and a coloring book.

(Whitney's big mystery present from Kate- a soccer vase with snacks.  She was so confused by the box!)

Katelyn was hugging a book she has aaaallllways been wanting.

Whitney was excited because there was a cereal box and it wasn't cereal, it was a Sports Magazine!!  (Sports Illustrated for Kids)

Emma got Rubble from Owen!!

I opened up my present and I got a fatty pack! (fanny pack lol) and a compass/light! (she really said compass slash light!)

Maris Murray was opening a present from her cousins, they were cards and pretty stickers and little fake foods. (from Japan!)

Whitney was reading a book that she had gotten.  (from Grammy)

Katelyn unwrapped a present and found pajamas!  And a favorite book that she had always wanting for her whole life!

Owen opened a book, he was feeling super happy about what he got.

Emma ripped and ripped and pulled as much as she could.  There was a teddy bear book with a flashlight!

Katelyn put all her chocolate in a big box!

(It was a fun morning!  I especially loved watching them open gifts from each other as usual. Emma had so much fun; she had been really obedient about putting presents back if she tried to play with them before Christmas, so I was happy she finally got to see what was inside!  Everybody got surprises, as well as things they asked for, so that was fun.)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year? Is July. But December is great too.

Haha.  Here's all the Christmas-y Activities I took pictures of this December:

We went to see the lights at Temple Square with the MacKays!  Here are the boy cousins:

And a bunch of us looking at the Japanese nativity.  We got a pic of our family, but I apparently didn't get it off of Eric's phone, too bad.

Eric and I went to his LEI Christmas party dressed in a double Christmas sweater!  So funny, and we took 3rd place in the ugly sweater contest!

Gingerbread houses.  Maris had more patience this year and actually covered her house!  And then didn't really eat it haha.

Whitney's front side,

and back of the house

Owen's front

and back

Katelyn front (and a sleigh!)

and back, including a snowman.  Note to self: do this more than 2 days before Christmas or it will just be thrown away.

Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with Brad, Mary, Cleo and Vivi.  Grandpa got to sit at the fun table with the kids! haha

Then we acted out the Nativity on our own, which we hadn't done in a few years.

Emma was Mary and Maris was the Angel Gabriel.

The Angel came to Joseph too.

This was the best haha, "Mary" kept laying down in the middle of the journey to Bethlehem!  She must have been very tired and pregnant! 

Eric was the innkeeper and as usual, spiced things up.  He said there was no room at this inn,

and then quickly moved the ottoman over and used a different voice to be another innkeeper, so funny.

Mary had her baby, and instead of wrapping him and putting him in the manger, she wated to lay down right by him, so sweet.

Angels came to the shepherds (Whitney) and sang beautifully!

This is of Owen and Whitney busting up laughing when the shepherds came to the stable and Eric announced that he was the manger (trying to get Emma to hold still!)

Christmas night in the stable.

Kate the Wise Person journeyed from afar.

And Mary lost no time in grabbing for the awesome gifts!

I took these pics of the tree on Christmas Eve before I went to bed. I love the lights of Christmas!  Even though some of ours had gone out haha.

Also the Sunday before Christmas, I tried curling Emma's hair for the first time!  It was Adorable even if a bit old lady-ish!
She was not in a picture taking mood though

that face!!

But then Eric got a couple of smiles out of her, with his awesome portrait mode on his phone, yay!

The kids in Christmas attire; Emma refused to put down the baby.

And sweetie Maris wanted to take a picture by her big purple present. 

SO so cute.

December Non-Christmas happenings

 I took this funny picture while wrapping presents in my new craft room. :)  It just looked like Eric's feet were Emma's lol.

 I got to coach Whitney's volleyball team this year!  After swearing I would never coach volleyball again (after feeling inadequate with Katelyn's team last year), the city kept begging for coaches and I finally said yes.  This year had it's ups and downs but was mostly positive!  It was fun to spend that time with Whitney, and I really do like volleyball.  And the getting-to-know-and-encourage-the- players part of coaching.
Here is Whitney diving behind another player!  You can see the ball in the air on it's way back over the net!

 And here's Whitney's friend Rachel trying to receive the ball-- Whitney got a good second hit on it!

 And here is Whitney with 2 of her best friends, who I drafted onto our team.  Rachel and Sulice.  It was a fun season, and Whitney improved in her skills.  She did great.

Rachel, Whitney, James, and Miriam at the Economics fair!  A classic 5th grade event at the school where they make a product to sell. Whitney made tassel keychains; they were cute.

 Emma is obsessed with pockets!  She insisted on wearing these pants backwards so she could put her hands in her pockets.  And she always wants to have her hands in her coat pockets in the car, or anywhere!  She calls them "pock" and it's so cute.

 Whitney is in the middle in the back row, playing her violin in the elementary school orchestra Christmas concert!

 Maris had her Christmas Dance Recital, it was super cute of course!

 Emma one day wanted to wear a hat and carry a bag.

 We went to Pocatello for Eric's Grandpa's 90th birthday party!  it was really fun. the kids got to sled and we came home with a precious document of stories about Eric's Grandpa.  Here are 4 generations of Murray men!  Johnny, Brad, Eric, and Owen.

 I skipped happy Murray Day back in November!  And apparently I never took a still shot of this, only a video!  So Katelyn got the Mastery Murray because she is mastering Junior High and working on self-mastery in Young Women's.  Whitney got the Meticulous Murray because she is so good at being organized.  Owen got the Muscle Murray because this year I always see him doing things that strengthen his muscles!  Running, jumping, hanging, climbing, riding his bike; he has gotten stronger this year.  Maris got the Musical Murray because she is always singing!  While playing, coloring, eating....and this year she discovered her love of dance. Emma got the Mischievous Murray because she is so much more curious than her siblings were as toddlers!  She has climbed on the table more than the other kids did, explored strangers' houses more, and done some funny, surprising things.
For Happy Murray Day we went out to eat and got new popper guns and had a war, and had a movie night.