Christmas Morning!
Is Christmas Morning supposed to be magical? There are high expectations and oft-unmet desires. The desire to focus on the Savior and also allow candy and presents and excitement to fill the air, too. It may take work to make Christmas magical - but it's worth it. And this Christmas did not disappoint. (At least it didn't disappoint me - I can only hope that it goes down in my children's memories as a magical, wonderful Christmas.)
Austin woke up at 5:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I laid with him on his little mattress on the floor and tried to soothe him back to sleep but he was so excited he was literally shaking. After an hour of trying his very hardest to go back to sleep - he rolled over to me and said "Mom, I just CAN'T fall asleep. I'm too excited!" It didn't take long for the rest of the kids to wake up and be just as excited to go upstairs.
After everyone woke up we read a couple of Christmas books and said a family prayer before going upstairs to open our stockings. I love the tradition of reading a book about the Savior, talking about what we are grateful for, and saying a prayer before the rest of the Christmas day takes over.
We had arranged with the rest of the adults to just open our stockings then have breakfast so that the entire house didn't have to wake up at dawn. The kids were SO excited and did a great job taking the time to enjoy their stockings and eat their breakfast while they waited for everyone else to wake up.
But then as soon as they were fed and everyone was ready- our present opening commenced! Gifts were excitedly given and graciously received.
(Caleb Left, Austin Right. I LOVED their matching jammies - but looking at these pictures it is clear that it will make it hard to tell them apart in the future, ha.)
Our traditional picture by the Christmas Tree. Usually Sue has two trees, the large family tree upstairs and her "pretty tree" in the living room. This is the first year that they've actually celebrated Christmas in the living room (they did it in the family room when their family was younger and then in the upstairs room after they completed their addition.) It ended up working out well for what we needed this year.
The Rencher's came for a socially-distanced visit.
Austin got a Cotton Candy machine for one of his gifts. We knew he was going to love it and it did NOT disappoint. It makes cotton candy from jolly ranchers and it was a hit.
We spent the rest of the day playing games, eating delicious food, and enjoying being together.
One thing I did want to add in to this blog post is a little story about a stool. I may have posted about this before, but I don't want to miss writing about it if I haven't. This stool pictured below is the stool that Cal sits on when he comes out to play games with the family. When I was compiling a family vacation book for Cal a few years back, I asked everyone what one of their favorite vacation memories were. The vast majority of the answers (all the way from Wendy to Kevin - so it was clearly a sustained tradition) was getting to sit in the front of their van between their Mom and Dad - sitting on this stool. There was memory after memory of this stool. It traveled the country right alongside the family. It then transitioned to fill other roles, including acting as Cal's game stool - and I have many fond memories of Cal pulling it out from the back closet whenever he's about to join in on the game play. It's clearly been well used and well-loved. It's become a symbol, to me, of the love and sacrifice that these amazing parents have had for their kids.
Merrry Christmas. Through the tinsel and the candy and the lights, we feel the love of the Savior and express our gratitude for him. To end I'd like to share the poem that Lydia memorized this December:
Christmas
( M.E. Miro, adapted by Shantel Peaden )
Christmas is more than a day in December
It's all of those things that we love to remember
Its carolers singing familiar refrains
Bright colored stockings and shiny toy trains
Streamers of tinsel and glass satin balls
Laughter that rings through the house and its halls
Christmas is more than a day in December
Its the gift of the Christ Child
and His Love to remember.
and a few quotes from President Nelson's Christmas address this year:
“At the birth of Him who is called the ‘Good Shepherd,’ shepherds were the first to receive the announcement of His holy birth.
“At the birth of Him who is called the ‘Bright and Morning Star,’ a new star appeared in the heavens.
“At the birth of Him who called Himself the ‘Light of the World,’ darkness was banished worldwide as a sign of His holy birth.”
“Truly, that blessed night more than two millennia ago was a night made holy by the birth of One who was foreordained to bring peace to this earth and to inspire good will among men (Luke 2:14). Jesus Christ was born to bless all humankind, past, present, and future.
“Even as we sing ‘Silent Night,’ we know the life of that Babe of Bethlehem did not begin there, nor did it end on Calvary.”
- Russell M Nelson Christmas Devotional 2020
(Lucy only opened a handful of presents on Christmas day, and she continued to open them a few at a time over the next day.) 
