Christmas 2013!!!!

Merry Christmas!  We had a fantastic Christmas at the Sampson house. 

A little story for you.  Many of you know my little Jaron and what a total pest he can be.  The kid can be such a brat, but then he can also be super sweet.  Here is the story of what happened on Christmas Eve. 

After our party (see previous post) we let the kids open one present.  It was pajamas (surprise!) and they were excited to go put them on.  Mackenzie has grown a lot in the last three weeks and the pajamas I had purchased for her were too small.  She cried and was very sad that she had to wear old pajamas (note the red cheeks and tears in this picture):

After everyone was ready we decided to write notes to Santa.  Jack and Mackenzie both simply put that they were good and would appreciate certain gifts.  Then it was Jaron's turn.  I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him and he said, "Ummm... a rainbow ball and some new pajamas that fit Mackenzie".  Paul and I looked at each other, a little stunned but wrote down what he wanted.  The  rainbow ball is a rubber ball that lights up when you hit it which was already attached to one of his gift.  Basically this kid is pretty content with life how it is and he just wanted his sister to be happy.  Very very sweet little monkey.

Here is a picture of right before the kids came out and the kids heading down the hall:

 

Jaron got a cash register.  He kept asking how Santa knew this was what he wanted - so cute!

 
Kenzie received a fish that she named Sharkie and a sewing machine.  Mom has said repeatedly that we could not have a fish in our house as there was no room, but Santa felt like we could make room.


Jack got a DS - and a bag of coal as a reminder to be better behaved in 2013 or no presents next year :) Jack also received a Saints jersey from his Dad - which he was super excited about.
 
Jaron also received new pajamas for Mackenzie.  He unwrapped them and being super excited gave them to his sister.  It was very sweet.

And here it is folks - the after....it is amazing to me how months of shopping, preparing, sewing etc. can turn in to this in a matter of minutes.


After we were done opening presents, we went down to the Sampsons for more festivities (check out the outfits the kids chose to wear Grandma Buckley...they love what you sent)

Every year we have a letter gift exchange.  Everyone draws a name and one person draws the letter, then each gift has to begin with that letter and be under a certain budget.  This years letter was "D" and the gifts ranged from Darth Vader to Dr. Pepper (bet you can't guess who got that).  Jaron had drawn Grandma's name so we went shopping.  He was insistent that Grandma really wanted "Dart Guns....d...d...d.."  Jaron bought a set that had 2 guns so they could play them together.  Here is a shot of him being super excited while she opened them:

At the end of the day Jack and Paul settled in to play some Madden on the Wii in Jack's new jersey. 
It was a great day at our house and we feel so blessed.  Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!