Christmas Day 2015

 Christmas Day started for us around 7:30am which was wonderful! The kids actually slept longer than we thought they would! AND it snowed ALL NIGHT so we woke up to another winter wonderland! This year I got a little crazy with stocking stuffers! They wouldn't all "fit" inside! And I wrapped all of them just like my Mom used to do when we got older! Anything to make it last a little longer right?!! :)

 Will and Brianne had gone out shopping for us as well and had wrapped all our gifts and put them under the tree. It was so sweet to see them do that and want to give us something special!

 Opening stocking stuffers- these are emoji pillows! Brianne's is the crying laughing one and Will's is the smiling face! Love these!

 Chan is smiling that BIG smile because we got him a new Hydroflask! if you don't know about these you should! They are amazing water containers that have amazing insulating! Anyway, he had one but lost it at one of Will's football games, so he was VERY excited to get a new one!

 Vlad got a new toy for Christmas and was already ripping the stuffing out of it! You can see it over by the table!

Duke got a new ball! He loves to chew on them and to play fetch! He has crazy amounts of energy!
(you can see Chan's new Hydroflask behind Duke on the floor) The kids got us such thoughtful gifts too! They bought Chan a new tie, his favorite candies from Hickory Farms and a new University of Utah hat! And for me they got a Swig refill cup & gift card, a new phone case, bath & body car fresheners and an adult coloring book! The kids were happy with their gifts too which always makes us happy.

 After we opened our gifts for each other and cleaned up a bit Chan and Will went out to snow blow the driveway and sidewalks. There was A LOT of snow! And it snowed for most of the day too! Once we were done it wasn't long that we jumped into the truck and headed to Tom & Kathy's house. It was quite the adventure!

 We arrived and then had our usual breakfast fondue before heading downstairs to open gifts with each other. By the way this was Brianne's FAVORITE gift- the Pink Utah sweatshirt from Grandma Panko & Pa Boo and the Utes hat from Will :) Looks so cute on her too!

 Once we got downstairs it was all about the little kids first! They had a lot to open and had been waiting very patiently for a while! I don't think they could wait another minute!

 We all enjoy watching the little kids open gifts anyway, so it was fun! And the stuff they got was pretty cool too! It's awesome how technology is in a lot of the kids toys now days! Will was wearing Christmas gifts too! We gave him clothes for Christmas so he's wearing a new shirt and pants! Lookin' good!

 Our kids got some amazing gifts too- Brianne got the microphone stand she really wanted and Will got some XBox One games he has been wanting, but the thing we were MOST excited about was the gifts we were giving this year! That's to come...

 Brooke and Mark gave Chan and I a selfie stick! This was Will helping me get it set up! Brianne is afraid that I have one! I am so crazy about pictures already that she's worried what I'll do next! Ha!

 So here's the gift we were so excited about. This year we made these blankets for my parents and Chan's parents. They have photos of all the kids/grand kids on them and are a soft plush throw blanket. My parents LOVED theirs and sent us this photo after they opened it!

 Kathy loved hers as well- she just cried when she opened it and held it up. This is a photo I took of hers a while back. She was so happy with it that she said she is taking it everywhere! That made us so happy! I also gave Brooke and Annie's families sets of campfire sticks & sacks to put them in. They were painted cute and I wrote their names on all of them. I figured with all the camping they do they NEED those!

 Of course the best part of the day was this! Talking to Carter via Skype! It was different doing it at Tom & Kathy's house because it wasn't just us chatting with him. Everyone that was there had a chance to say hello too. I know Carter enjoyed seeing and talking to them all. He sounded so good and loved all the gifts he had received. He was transferred a couple days after our Skype and we still don't know where to- we will find out soon! A few interesting things we talked about were:

The weirdest thing he ate was a pigs foot- he said it was disgusting and couldn't eat it.
He hasn't ridden his bike in several months- it's out on his balcony.
Christmas Day for missionaries is just like any other day!
"Grandpa" takes them to the same restaurant to eat every time and it's not that great- Haha
There's lots of bugs in Florida- especially big spiders called banana spiders that weave huge webs in between palm trees. He told us to google it- and I did- and now I am going to have nightmares! Yuck!
He has lots of inside jokes with his companions and they laugh a lot!
They listen to David Archuletta when they are in the car
He doesn't get as many emails as when he first went out- and doesn't like to focus on that.
He's often too tired to work out but when he runs on the treadmill can do a 9 minute mile!
He still loves Oregon Ducks and asked for a Duck's shirt! :)

 There was SOOOO much more said, but I should have taken notes because my mind can't recall everything. The most important thing was that we got to SEE him and hear him laugh and know that he is doing amazing things there in Florida! We couldn't be any prouder of him!

The day after Christmas I noticed that Brianne had written this on our frame in our room and it made my heart smile! You can't get a better message than that and I agree- it was an amazing Christmas! How grateful I am for Christ all year. I can't imagine my life without Him and my Heavenly Father in it. They help keep me focused on what is most important! Merry Christmas everyone! Much love from our family to yours!