Aaah ... Christmas Day... the long awaited day that we have so feverishly prepared for, from the shopping of the Christmas presents, the making of the cards, the baking of the cinnamon rolls, the wrapping of the gifts, and the preparations for the Christmas Eve celebration at Granny and Bomp's!

It's just one day in the year, that comes so quicky and sneaks out the door so fast! It's 6:00 p.m. and I'm still sitting here in my nightgown and MooMoo ... no makeup ... no combed hair ... no deoderant, and not even my teeth brushed. Aaah ... the one day of the year that I can do what I absolutely want to do, whenever I want to do it, and how I want to do it! And nobody complains ... that's the best part.

We had a wonderful time visiting with the family here at our home last night. The kids were wound up tighter than a spring and were yelling and hopping all over the place. They were very excited for Santa to come to their homes. One of the cutest moments last night was when four of them were standing at the open door hollering for Santa. They were looking up into the sky and yelling for Santa to come. The longer they yelled, the louder they got. It was quite comical. Even though we really didn't have any planned activities, it was just a wonderful time enjoying each others company. Everyone had gone home by around 10:00 p.m., and then it was lonely and quiet, with just Reese, Lynn, Dieter and me. We finished cleaning up the kitchen and then helped Santa with the stockings. We were in bed by 11:00 p.m.

We didn't wake up until 7:00 a.m. and were surprised that Reese wasn't knocking at our door at 5:00 a.m. We finally got up around 8:00 to open our gifts, after having family prayer and thanking Heavenly Father for all of the wonderful blessings that we've enjoyed as a family this year.

How wonderful to have children who are so good and kind, who believe and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who are good parents that teach their children the Gospel, and who love and support each other. Who could ask for anything more.

We're blessed to have another great year with Mom and Dad. We went over this morning to watch the unveiling of their presents. Wow ... what a haul. Everyone is so generous to them. It's the only time of the year when they buy things for each other. Some of the kids and Mom and I put money towards a new recliner for Dad. Since we brought it into the house, he doesn't think that Mom helped pay for the chair. He just can't remember what Mom got him and keeps asking her what she got him for Christmas. I think it kind of hurts her feelings that he can't remember. I had the privilege of shopping for both of them. They each gave me money with a list of things they would like to buy each other. Well, actually, Mom gave me a list of things she wanted for herself and a list of things to pick up for Dad. Dad just handed over his money and Mom gave me money from her sock. At least I think that's where she hides it. :)

I bought a family gift for the three of us ... a new 32" flat screen TV. Now we can actually see the screen in the family room. I think the old TV was about a 7" screen. I'm not lying! We bought very few gifts for us since we had the TV. I got a new camera which I've been wanting for some time. I played with it for about 3 hours this afternoon. It has some really sweet features on it. I'll post some of the pics.

Grandma trained Dieter to dance for his food. I'll try and post the video of him so Sarah and Kate can see him dance. The kids were making him dance last night and laughing their heads off. In fact they spent all evening playing with him. He plopped down on the floor and fell asleep after they went home. He wouldn't even wake up for Lynn so Lynn had to carry him in his arms to put him on his bed. It was so cute!

I keep getting an error trying to post the video. I'll have to figure it out later.

I guess I'd best be getting the dishes done, the floors mopped, and myself cleaned up before bed.