Merry Christmas!!!
Santa Came!!

What a fantastic day! Santa stayed up pretty late getting everything just right, but it was all worth the effort. It was a lazy morning with opening our stockings, eating cinnamon rolls, and then opening presents. It was fun to see Carter get excited for each new gift. He really got into opening presents this year, but it would take awhile for him to be interested in opening another gift when he was enjoying playing with his latest new thing. Santa did a great job in leaving just the right sweets and little presents for each person.
STOCKINGS

The first thing Carter went for was this toy that Santa got at Ikea. He was super excited to open that and show us how it works. He was so proud. The only downside is that Santa didn't think about how loud it would be on the tile floor. :-)

PRESENTS
We tried to not go so overboard this year with presents, but it truly is hard to stop when it comes to such a cute little boy! We LOVED buying new toys and clothes for Carter because he really does love each new thing. Christina got Mike just a couple of more expensive items this year, like an electric shaver and a 1 TB external hard drive, and Mike got Christina lots of great kitchen stuff and nice leather gloves. The true joy of our Christmas morning was watching Carter light up at each new thing.

COOLEST PRESENT
Probably the coolest present Carter got from Mom & Dad was a remote control car. This is a car with lights and 3 big wheels so that it can spin and move in all sorts of directions. Carter picked up on how to work the remote control way fast, and he even discovered a sweet spin for the car. The funniest thing is that he loves the car when it'd driving and turning, but as soon as it comes towards him he has a little scared cry. Such a dramatic boy! :-)

This face is what Christmas morning is all about.

LOVES
Of course Carter was super thankful for all his new gifts and we loved relishing in his sweet kisses and hugs.

JENSON FAMILY CHRISTMAS

After our little Christmas morning we made some dishes to bring for Christmas dinner at the Jenson parents' house. It is also a fun tradition to go to the parents to open presents with everyone. Cheri & Terry do too much by stuffing our stockings overfull with the best treats for each person and a little gift. Our family grew this year with the addition of Analise, and that is always fun to see. Next year we will definitely have one new little baby, and hopefully 1-2 more as well. :-) Carter was a crack up this year because Mike's Aunt Lori gave us this chair that her kids grew out of, and he absolutely loves it! We taught him to cross his legs on it, so he sits like a stud.


SECRET SANTA

Since our family is growing, for the last 2 years we've had the kids and spouses just draw names for each other, and then everyone gets the parents a gift. It's definitely hard to not buy for everyone, but it makes the wallet a little happier, plus you get to focus on one person and get them a great gift. This year Mike had Steve and Christina had Andy, and Dan & Analise had us.

We were also blessed to have Steve's son, Brandon around for the holidays. He is 16 now and a real sweetheart. He got a DS something from Santa so he was pretty enthralled with that, but we got him to look up for a couple of pictures and presents. ;-) Angela was super sweet and got everyone something with their name. She always finds the perfect thing and goes the extra mile.



We all got so many presents from each other and they truly were perfect in every way. We have a tradition that we make up a list for each person to make the gift buying game a little easier, but it's always nice to get some surprises as well. This year Cheri & Terry gave everyone a game, so we're excited to try them this holiday season.
Two of Carter's favorite presents was a little dog vacuum from us, and then a mini drum set from Grandma & Grandpa Jenson. It was a Walmart steal for only $20 and it comes with a base drum, two side drums, a cymbal, and a little stool to sit on. Carter absolutely loved it and was super adorable rocking out on it! He loves playing the big drums at home so this will be fun for him to do when he's at Grandma's house.

Carter was so intrigued by Brandon's DSI. He kept looking at what Brandon was doing, but he was pretty good about not touching it or trying to take it away. These pictures we captured are just priceless.

GRANDMA & GRANDPA JENSON VISIT

Every year Grandma & Grandpa Jenson come and visit all their kids and grandkids and they bring a present for each person. This year they had spent so much time and energy creating a scrapbook with everyone in it at least once. Grandma does a cute thing and takes the faces and puts them on different scenes so it's a pretty hilarious book. She is so creative and we are so grateful that she took the time to complete them for everyone.

THE LOOT :-)
Every year we have to take a picture of our loot from the day, and then we make a resolution not to go as crazy the next year. We know that the stuff below doesn't matter much, but the memories made today, and the true reason for the season is what today is all about. We have been so blessed by our loving Heavenly Father, and we try each day to live our lives as a Thank you to Him.