Christmas 2014 Happened

 It's almost February and I still haven't caught up on December.  I thought things would calm down after the holidays, but I swear it only got busier. 

Well Christmas this year did not disappoint.  We kicked off Christmas Eve at Hotts's house.  Milo and Taya were in heaven.  Both of them were thrilled about opening presents.  Milo opened one tractor and didn't care about opening another-he was just so delighted with his toy.  Taya on the other hand got excited for every present.  She would get all big eyed, and gasp in excitement for every thing that she opened.  Then she'd say, "I love it!"  She tried on every piece of clothing, every little necklace, and hugged every mermaid. 

Then we moved on to Christmas at the Church with Grandma and Grandpa Bird. 

The kids got more than a little bit spoiled!

And as if Powerwheels for each kid wasn't enough, they each got a special present to open too.  Talk about little kid heaven!

We were worried that Taya and Hallie would be a bit too small for the cars, but they LOVED them.  They were crazy drivers (especially Tay), but they kept right up with the big kids.

Anna and Brave :)

This year I insisted on a quite Christmas morning at our house.  It was amazing!  The kids got up around 7 and got in bed with us.   Somehow they had forgotten about their new toys, and that it was Christmas morning.  It was so fun to just cuddle in our big bed all together.  Then Chris said, "Hey guys, last night when I was sleeping I heard Santa's reindeer on our roof."  All of the sudden it clicked.  Milo started screaming, "ahhhhh, it's Christmas!!!!"  I've never seen two little bodies get out of bed so quickly.

Milo got an astronaut suit and space toys.  Of all of the nice things that he got, I think that he liked the "rocket pack" the best.  Santa may have crudely fashioned out of two liter bottles and tape.

 Taya loved her doll house.  It was worth every minute of effort to see her enjoying it so much.  She had luckily forgot all of the girls that we bought off of KSL.

I really loved it when they played astronaut and dolls together.  I can finally admit, having two kids this close together was a good idea:)  They play so cute now. 

Then it was on to Grandma and Grandpa Manning's house.

Again, spoiled rotten!  Tay was adorable with her toys.  She just loved everything. 

Grandma put a lot of effort into gifts this year, and the kids were delighted.

Although we toned down all of the running around this year, it still was busy!  Especially when you're trying to be considerate of a 5 month old's not so perfect schedule.  But Crew did awesome.  He usually isn't a big crowd fan, so I had planned on one of us always having to be in the other room, but there he was,  laying in the middle of tons of gifts, people, and Christmas chaos, just beaming.   

Then to top it all off, we had a cousins sleep over.  I imagined everyone being way to exhauted to really enjoy the sleepover part (especially the morning after Christmas/sleepover part), but the kids loved every minute!

I was so worried about how things would turn out this year.  I missed my brother. I worried about him.  I wished that he was there for even one small part.  But kids help ease all.  They were so happy, that I couldn't help but be happy.  Christmas 2014 will be a hard one to beat.