Christmas Day

Brian and I tossed and turned a bit in the night because we were so excited for the boys to wake up to Christmas! We usually make Thad wait until 7:00 am to wake up, but we put the clock away and told him to wake up whenever he wanted to. At 6:15 am we heard that boy hop down his stairs and come get us to get things going. Wes was still asleep, but was a good sport about getting up because I think he could feel the excitement!

We had the obligatory wait time so that I could get myself presentable and so that Dad could check on everything and make sure Santa had everything right.

These sweet boys waited patiently at the top of the stairs and Thad hurried Wes down as soon as dad gave the OK!

As soon as they got to the bottom of the stairs, they ran to the gifts that Santa left for each of them:

They were both very excited about their new toys that would keep them entertained outside for hours!

STOCKINGS
(Definitely my favorite thing to open and watched be open on Christmas morning!)
Thad:

Wes:
It was hard to tear this boy out of that car to go through his stocking, hence Thad going through it for him.

After Wes was finally done, they got those head lamps on straight away,



And Wes got right back to business!

Dad:

Mom:

PRESENTS
Thad was excited when we finally decided to get down to business! ;-)

//Nerf Gun from Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Kent//

After the boys opened a couple things, Brian casually says, “Let’s have mom open one.”

I was completely SHOCKED when I opened it up to find a brand new Canon DSLR camera that I had been frequently mentioning to Brian.

I knew it was totally out of the question and was not expecting it at all, but Brian sure knows how to surprise me and make one happy mom!
He thinks of EVERYTHING and had it charged and ready to go so we could use it for the rest of the day.
Of course we tested it out right away…

And got a pretty good shot of everyone’s happy Christmas faces. (Pink eye and all.)

After all the excitement, Thad was ready to get the rest of those wrapped up boxes, UNwrapped!

//Hot Wheels track from Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Russ//

//Tonka Truck from Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Russ//

Wes kept making his way back to his car with his head lamp on. We couldn’t get enough of it!

As you can see from all of my silly faces, I was extra excited about my camera and all of its accessories!

I surprised Brian with a school desk for our bedroom.
Not nearly as exciting as my camera, but something he needed and he was so grateful I thought of his need to have a space for his studies.
We are so grateful for that smart dad of ours!

//Boxing Robots from Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Kent//

Brian and Thad took a break for some Christmas nog:

And then it was straight back to playing and getting dad to work to get toys assembled!

If you can’t tell by now, Wes has a slight obsession with cars/wheels. Almost every gift he received was vehicle related and he loved every single one!

And don’t forget dad playing with mom’s new present:

I know I’m a nerd, but I love Christmas and this picture pretty much sums up how excited I was about the whole morning!

BREAKFAST

Dad is always the breakfast guy at our house, so Christmas was no exception.
He sure is a handsome breakfast chef!

After a delicious breakfast, there was more play:

And some must-have Christmas Day photos:

Some more camera testing:

And finally outside to test the big gifts out!

And we sure love our goof, Thad!

This is for sure our favorite outside moment of the day:

We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys, eating a yummy dinner, connecting with family and especially enjoying one another’s company.

Thank heavens for technology!
After talking to our families, we thought, ya know what? We probably could have gone to Utah for Brian’s 4 WEEK winter break…Well, we didn’t, and we definitely had an incredible Christmas, but the holidays are about family and we may take that into consideration next year.
Watch out Utah, your favorite Texans may be headed your way December 2014!

What a special day we enjoyed as a family. It’s amazing how much love continues to grow in our family each passing year.
These boys are our world and they are the most precious gift in our lives.
It is because of the Savior and his birth that we are able to be a forever family.
I am so grateful for that and hope that through the Christmas holiday and weekly worship and study that my boys will understand His divine role in our mortal experience and eternal lives.
What privilege and blessing it was to celebrate the birth of our Savior with the three most important people in my life. Yes, we are truly blessed.

//Merry Christmas 2013//

Love, The Monsens