Christmas 2017...

I cannot even put into words how magical Christmas was for us this year.

I can't put my thumb on just why it felt so full and good - other than the obvious... The boys are at such fun and sweet ages.  We celebrated for the first time in our new house.  It was all so fresh and exciting for our little Boone.  It finally SNOWED.  

But beyond that - I suppose MAGIC is as the word implies... unexplained but felt & enjoyed.

Maybe it all started with Christmas Eve falling on Sunday.  Isn't it the best to celebrate Christ's birth and his wonderful life before the wrapping paper goes flying?  It was a day full of all the best kinds of things:

Big Sunday Breakfasts

Polishing Up in our Sunday Best

Enjoying the Songs and Sounds of the Season

Dinner with Family

The Nativity

Three Wisemen Visiting Baby Jesus

Christmas Jammies

Family Game Time

This one is called "Toilet Trouble" and the flusher randomly is sprayed with toilet water.

There were squeals of hysteria as you can imagine.

Cookies for Santa

Dax dutifully sampled a few to make sure Santa would approve.  :)

Christmas Eve night brought us my favorite gift of all:

Snow Fall.

It started just as the boys were getting ready for bed.  We all stood in the front doorway and gleefully celebrated the white flakes twirling in the Christmas Lights.  Then the world became quiet as all sounds were muffled by the snow globe scene.  Ever so quickly the flakes gathered and a nice Christmas blanket was unfolded on the yard.  The timing was perfect.

And the next morning we had just one early riser, Dax, who snuggled in bed next to us while he waited for his brothers to wake up.  At last we all went to Ace's room and woke him for the action.

They all ran down the stairs with those faces of childhood delight.  And the rest is best explained in pictures:

Boone got a bike.  A little balance bike sans pedals in the color "BWU" just as he asked Santa for (with some prompting from his brothers) and he hopped on like a champ and acted as if he rode a bike right out of my womb.  He is amazingly coordinated and so fun to watch.

That sleepy faced grin gets me every time.  Ace got a BB Gun per Santa's tradition...Turn 6 and you're in the big boy club.

Kaelster asked for a whip and a lasso.  Oddly, Santa must have bypassed the whip request and replaced it with a NY Yankees hat - but our little Horsepower was thrilled with his roping kit.

Kael is our little artist and this is the piece he gifted us.  So amazing!

One of my most favorite things in the entire world is watching brothers gift to brothers.  They know each other so well.  They are SO sweet when they hug a big thank you beneath those long and gracious lashes.  My heart.... 

Dax asked for a pocket knife.  He got a fancy "Old Timer" and has been dutifully carrying it around in his front pocket ever since.  I love how responsible and proud he is.  It was handy to have an almost boy scout on the ready to cut through all the packaging that morning.

Daddy didn't even ask for a TV but he has been SUCH a good boy Santa treated him right.  He is a lucky man to have all the best little buddies to watch football games with.  :)

Christmas Hugs.... Santa left a scavenger hunt for all of us to follow and it led us out to the driveway where a brand new basketball standard was miraculously installed for our little ballers.  There were hugs of glee and gratitude and little curious minds wondered aloud how on earth Santa could have pulled off such a feat.

And we all simply concluded - it was MAGIC.

Like everything else we had felt during the season.

Merriest Christmas, indeed.

Jazz Ball...

We bid adieu to our beloved Jr. Jazz season.

It is so fun to watch them.  Each of them plays differently and has their own individual strengths and weaknesses.  Which is why every night I pray we will get to watch them play together on the same team some day.  Wouldn't that be unreal?

Ace Face got to play for the first time ever this year.  His Kindi team was boss even though it was just he and three other little dudes that showed up week in and week out and the rest of the team stopped coming.  Ace and Robert carried the team and were relentless on offense.  The two of them and the Coach's son took on an opposing team with just three tiny little players and beat them to the ground.  It was fun to watch and they were all pretty stoked.

Defense came later for Ace but once he caught on he REALLY caught on and stuck to his opponents "like white on rice" as they say.  He had a fun season and can't wait to do it again.

Dax is THE defensive machine.  He was always put against the most aggressive offensive opponent and usually shut him down to the point of frustration.  Dax also shot and made a good number of baskets every game.  He is an excellent passer.  A good all around player.  A force to be reckoned with.  He played on a team with his bestie from the hood, Logan, and the last game was an embarrassment of shots and assists from the two of them.

He loves the game and we love watching him play.

Kaelster played with a couple of dudes from the neighborhood and school.  His coach is a friend of ours and she was intense -- making sure they learned the rules and didn't travel or double dribble.  I guess you could say this was his first "real" foray into the game and it was good for him.

Kael LOVES to shoot.  He has a great touch and eye for the basket.  He gets lots of rebounds and rarely passes.  :)  He is the master stats keeper and is working on his defense.

It was a great season for him and his buddies.  I hope he keeps up with it.

Take a guess which one of the last games I couldn't attend and thus I wasn't there for picture day....  Sorry Big K!  But hey - Your Dad DID take two pics and that's two more than I thought he would take.  :)

Boone gets the MVP of the season because little man sat through a LOT of games.  And when I say "sat" I use that term VERY loosely.  He was a busy, wriggly little fan full of sass who begged for a ball 97% of the time.  BUT - we made it.

Pin a rose on our nose(s).... of of 'em!

The Polar Express...

For family night this week we headed up to Heber to ride the Polar Express.

I think Ryan was 90/10 with dread and happiness.

But oh how quickly he whistled a different tune!

Let me do the math for you:

5 little dudes

A TRAIN - A real live train!

Elves that sing and dance and giggle with the passengers

Open Mic time for cracking jokes and singing along

Hot chocolate

Cookies

AND a surprise visit from Santa himself!

It was pure magic.

The little lads of ours worked their charm on the staff and cracked hilarious jokes for our entire car, including this gem from Kael who kicked things off with a bang:

"What do elves learn first at elf school?"

The "ELF-abet!"

Ryan even got in on the karaoke action and sang Jingle Bells loud and proud into the mic that our train conductor stuck right into his face.  :)

The windows fogged over and then the game became "drawing the best Christmas picture in your window pane".  Soon we arrived at our destination...  Lights everywhere and Santa waving at us from his front porch in the North Pole.  It was stunning.

Santa hopped in our train car and he visited with every kiddo and delivered a special "Santa's Sleigh" jingle bell for everyone.  Carols blasted from the speakers and the kids were over the moon excited.  It was epic.

Boone found a little girlfriend that he danced around the car with and she planted a big old kiss right on his mouth.  He giggled and smiled and followed her around like a puppy.  It was adorable.

I'm not overstating it - though I know it basically is what you make it - but man, oh man - worth every red cent!  I love this phase of life.  I love the holiday magic that having little ones brings.  I know I'm a cheese ball sometimes, but these holiday scenes ignite this nearly overwhelming deep gratitude for me.  The kind that almost takes my breath away that I get to experience this window of motherhood. I feel so deeply honored and blessed.

And three cheers for the Polar Express.