After our traditional Christmas Eve El Torito, Samuel was excited to learn he got to open a present before going to bed.  He tore off the paper, ripped open the box, saw his pajamas, and said, “Hey, that’s not my green truck from Santa!” 

After we reminded him that Santa wasn’t coming until he was asleep, Sam was happy to show off his monkey jamas and slippers.

Owen got in on the fun, too.

Samuel showing off his slippers.

“Merry Christmas, Baby Owen!”

Samuel has been all about everything Christmas, and I have loved it!!  The lights, Santa, presents, Baby Jesus (“It’s his birthday, and I get presents!”), and perhaps his favorite, Christmas cookies!  Sam and I will make a batch, and once they’re gone, Sam insists we make more.  So far we’ve make sugar (twice), cranberry oatmeal, peanut butter kiss, and ginger snaps.  {Can you tell which ones Sam did?}

Of course Samuel loves to count, scoop, and dump, he always sticks his fingers in and take tastes whenever he can, he enjoys watching them bake, he jumps with excitement when the timer goes off, and he waits very impatiently for them to cool off. 

He also likes to sneak cookies when I’m occupied with Owen.  The rack was full when I went upstairs to put O to sleep.

It’s Friday “morning” . . . 11:10.  We haven’t even been up for an hour yet!  Erik is working from home, Samuel is watching Toy Story 2 {aptly named “dee udder Buzz moobie”} so what better time to blog, eh?!  We had just about the best Christmas ever, staying home, just the three of us.  It was so cozy, so fun, so absolutely perfect. 

I decided to go for a “fancy” Christmas Eve dinner.  I remember why I hate cooking.  It’s a whole day of work, with a 15 minute enjoyment period.  Then there’s a big mess to clean up.  Ugh.  But I managed to tweak out a scrumptious roast, potato casserole, the best green beans ever, and a marzipan-chocolate-fresh-strawberry tart.  Then we opened pajama presents.  Sam was so excited when he saw his monkey pajamas.  He ran into the bath, and when he was done kept saying “Monkey jammas!”  And one more present, a special ornament from Mormor.  After it was hung on the tree, it was off to bed for Samuel, with promises of a visit from Santa Claus if he went to sleep fast.

Erik and I stayed up for the next couple hours getting everything ready while we watched “Tootsie” on AMC.  {Now would be the time to teach you the Danish word “hoogleed” except I don’t even know how to spell it, and there is no actual translation for it.}  Here is the set up, after Santa had come and gone.

So the next morning has not one single picture to document it.  We did, however, have the camcorder running the whole time.  Maybe I’ll edit it and put up clips soon.  Regardless of the lack of picture proof, it was such a fun morning.  Sam slept in till 9 {he hasnt been napping!} and woke up saying ”Presents!”  When he ran downstairs, he didn’t quite know where to go first.  Then he saw the things I hadn’t wrapped, and got to work on opening them.  He was so content to play with those new things, that he needed some serious prompting to unwrap the rest of the gifts.  Then, once he opened another Mater truck, Sam exclaimed, “Ok, Mater window!” and took his new truck to his favorite spot to play.

We spent the rest of the day in our pajamas, eating, playing, and watching movies.  Christmas at its best, wouldn’t you say?!

Stringtown, USA. . . .  What a litle gem, right in the middle of Lindon, Utah.  Check out the link, this place is such a crazy fun idea.  The thing is, it’s so popular, you have to have some sort of connection one way or another to get reservations.  Leave it to Triana!

So yesterday we went for a ride on the Polar Express.  It was such a fun little adventure!  Sam, despite his current medical condition, was loving all the new things to look at.  I love how he is such an observer!  He sat so still most of the time taking it all in, talking quietly to himself.  We started off in a garage watching part of the Polar Express movie on a huge screen.  Then we were off on our own trip to the North Pole.  We got to the North Pole, visited Santa, checked out his workshop, sang Jingle Bells, and left with a sweet thought about the true meaning of Christmas.  The rest of the train ride had lights, pictures of Christ’s life, a Nativity, and other great things to see along the way.  What a fun trip aboard the Polar Express!