Most Wonderful Tie of the Year

Here's the Christmas card that was much better received than cards of Christmases past. 

Ben and Haley popped in for the week to meet their newest nephew. 

The Christmas Eve party went off without a hitch even though we had just rolled into town an hour and a half before it began!

Before all the guests were even gone, Eli and Carson took it upon themselves to get the night before Christmas preparations in order. As I turned my back to walk someone to the door, they seized the opportunity to steal all the leftover cookies and every available carrot from the fridge to make a plate for our midnight visitor. 

Then they ran up to their bathroom, brushed their teeth, said their prayers, and tucked themselves into bed. Then Jeff and I chased them down, ripped them out of bed, and made them come back downstairs for pictures and a few moments to relish in their excited energy.

After a proper tuck in bed by mom and dad, the boys were the quietest they've ever been going to sleep. I went upstairs to check on them about an hour later and found the once open door now closed. I went in to find Eli sitting straight up in bed, hyped up on adrenaline. "Mom!" He screamed at me, "Close the door! I'm too tempted to go downstairs when it's open."

I obeyed his orders. 

Christmas morning was magical. This was my favorite Christmas yet. The boys were at the perfect ages. 

Jonah snuck into his brothers' stockings for a candy cane or two. 

Batman had his eye out for said thieves. 

I'm sure Ben and Haley enjoyed the chaos of our house full of boys on Christmas morning. We provided a plethora of entertainment.

Time to open presents!

My brother and I loved to play with walkie-talkies growing up. I eagerly passed the memory on to my boys.

The big gift of the year was a Nintendo Switch, so I'll let you guess what we did the rest of Christmas!

Jeff did take brief Nintendo intermissions to play with his new drone. 

He also took an intermission to take care of the Christmas mess, maybe a little too efficiently.

Ben and Haley lured us into their gamer's corner every time the kids were occupied. 

The Christmas miracle of the season was when we somehow managed to scrape together a beautiful Christmas dinner after coming home to a barren fridge following our two-week vacation. 

This is just the start of our Christmas fun! Stay tuned!