Christmas for the Christiansen's

If we could convince Mason to stay on the stairs then my desire to have just the kids in the picture would be brilliant, but alas he is one excited chap come Christmas morning! Carter had been up since about 3 a.m. There was a time during the wee morning hours that I had to tell him to come to my bed and cuddle with me, to which I found him shaking because he was so excited. Brennan was still pretty tired and Taylor was not wanting a picture taken until we told her we always get one before we find out if Santa came or not.

The first investigation of the special treasures, Carter was looking for all the stockings so that he knew which pile of presents belonged to which person.

Reading the letter from Santa that was left behind. Telling the kids that they were very good this year, and to remember to treat one another kindly always.

Taylor received a lot of new drawing paper, pens, art supplies of many kinds, and a new desk for her room.

Mason was super speed opening man! We didn't get as many pictures of the kids because we were trying to keep Mason from opening up every one's gifts. For some reason Carter came out with more pictures, probably because he was the most animated of the morning. Mason was thrilled with his Marble Race game, and his candy. Santa tries his hardest every year for something Mason will magically love. He was very excited to get a new stash of slide wheels for his eye-spy thing. He will lay with that for hours looking through slides.

Brennan was diligently going through his stocking, and wanted to inspect each and every item. He will learn that is what we do after the whirlwind of opening is over after a couple more years I think. He made us laugh every time he opened something this year, he kept shouting out as he ripped the paper, "No Fair!!" He kept hearing the other kids saying. "No way!" However, his reaction got mixed up in translation, so it was hilarious. He got a new train track/car track table, cars, books, and some puzzles.

Yup, Taylor not the most photogenic person when she is in a rush to get things opened. She was so quite on her side of the room, just opening and admiring each gift.

"Wow! This is 100 pieces, that is going to be such a challenge!" Could not stop laughing at Carter's reactions to each and every gift he got. He was very pleased with his Captain America Shield, new Star Wars books, and his Rock em' Sock em' Robots game.

Brennan thought that Dad was super lucky because he got new guns for Christmas...then the let down occurred when he realized that they were just clamps for his wood shop.

Carter decided that because this was his last gift under the tree he would make it extra exciting because he would keep his eyes closed. These photos are the best thing this Christmas to me. Carter was so surprised, and so excited and we actually captured that moment forever! I love technology and photos that can capture moments like these forever!

Brennan did not crack a smile about his car race table until he literally had every single piece of paper off of it, then he got excited.

Big fat Candy Cane stick...doesn't get much better than that!

Dad's new RC Helicopter...Carter got one too and they had a lot of fun with them...until parts started breaking. Now they are in the daddy repair shop with high hopes of being fixed. :(

Mommy got a new toy as well. Very fun!!

Then we played 'mess up the neat pile of paper game' Thanks Brennan!! You can at least see his PJ bottom's in there. He thought it was hilarious!
After all was said and done, we tried to get a family shot in front of the tree. It was as good as we were going to get it this year! It was a fun Christmas and we were glad that we got to spend it together as a family. We went to a short church service/sacrament meeting. We came home and hopped back into our PJ's, made a lovely brunch and spent most of the day Skyping with family across the world. Can't beat that!