Merry Christmas

What a month we've had here at the Smith home! I am feeling settled in our new home, and just in time for Christmas. We spent Christmas here in Utah this year, so we did family things with them. On Christmas Eve, we spent the day at Austin's parent's home, and the kids had fun tracking where Santa was. We even called into NORAD to one of Santa's helpers, and she told us to make sure we left some carrots for the reindeer because they would need the energy to make all the deliveries. We were supposed to get together with the Okimoto family, but due to an accident by a family friend, they weren't able to make it, so we had a nice quiet evening with Austin's family. When we got home, Makayla was excited to leave some cookies, milk and carrots for Santa. She laid all the stockings out in front of the Tree, and made sure Santa's magic key was hanging on the door (because we don't have a fireplace). We then checked one more time to see where he was, and found out he had just left Florida and cousins Jakob and Erick. She decided she better get right to bed so Santa wouldn't skip our house. We had a slumber party in our room with everyone in our bed.

Clara made sure we were all up bright and early on Christmas day - 6:30 - so we went down to see what Santa brought us all. Holden got a new car seat, Makayla got a new "princess" canopy bed, and Clara got a crib (so Holden could sleep in her old one). After opening the rest of the presents under the tree, we went to Austin's aunt Jana's house for brunch, then back to his parents for the rest of the day. We just hung out most of the day, nice and relaxing. That evening, we finished opening the presents from Grandpa and Grandma. By the time we were all done, the kids were beat, so we headed home and straight to bed. It was a fun and magical couple of days!