Christmas 2009

First, I want to apologize for the being a serious blogging slacker! I meant to update Christmas before I left for the cruise, which obviously didn't happen. And now I've been home for three days and I still haven't posted a dang thing! Second, you should know that the following pictures span from the beginning of December when we started decorating for Christmas all the way until Christmas Day. So be aware that you may be here for a while!

It isn't truly Christmas in my eyes until I've dragged myself out of my warm bed at 4am in order to hit the Black Friday sales! For years I was in denial and told myself that the next year I was not doing Black Friday, yet every year the stores lure me in with their promises of $3 set of jammies and $5 packs of Hot Wheels. But I've now embraced the reality that Black Friday and me are a package deal. I'm hooked! Even though Carissa and I braved the cold and the crazies at the crack of dawn, it was so worth it. No, we were not lining up for TVs or Wii games or anything. We left Walmart with three sets of pajamas, a package of Hot Wheels and a game of Jenga. But really, it's the experience that is so fun!

We started off by getting our house all decorated in the first few days of December. I think Bryan would prefer to decorate a little closer to Christmas, but I had volunteered my house for a Relief Society progressive dinner, and they had asked us to have the house decorated for Christmas. It was a great excuse to pull out all my stuff early! And we got to enjoy the tree all month (unfortunately we forgot to water the tree all month too, so by Christmas is was a sad and droopy little thing...).

Bryce loved decorating the tree. He was a machine! He had all the ornaments hung in like five minutes. We did this while Cole was sleeping so he wouldn't destroy our hard work, and Rix preferred to color a "make-your-own" ornament instead of hanging the rest.Of course, all the decorations were in one central location. (Remember now this same thing happened last year.) But no worries (I know you all were worried), I rearranged when they went to bed that night. Whew!

We also went to the tree lighting ceremony at the City of Lakewood building. They had live reindeer, a jumpy toy (what community event wouldn't be complete without one of those??), crafts, and a chance to meet Santa, where the kids got a candy cane and also got to pick out a toy from a table full of toys. The boys had fun and it was a good chance to get out and do Christmas stuff where someone else has to do all the clean up!

See?? I wasn't kidding. They had live reindeer. When we left the reindeer were gone so I told the kids they flew to the North Pole with Santa. They were awestruck. It was awesome.Rix loved the reindeer.
The boys with Santa. Rix asked for Hot Wheels and Bryce asked for a "play thing". Huh? For months Rix has been begging for a Wii or Bakugan stuff (which I ban from the house and refuse to buy) and Bryce has asked for a Batman castle (ahem, I mean cave) and now is their opportunity to ask Santa for all of this and they choke!

This year I also wanted to start new traditions with the family. I love traditions because they are what I remember most about holidays from when I was little. I don't really remember what presents I got or whatever, but I remember the traditions we did every year. This year I had several advent calanders up. The boys love these because it gives them a visual countdown for Christmas day (and one of the calanders has treats inside). We also decorated the tree together (by together I mean without Cole, master of destroying everything) and drove around and looked at Christmas lights.

This year we also started celebrating St. Nick's day, which I think was the night of December 6th. We did this when I was young for a Swedish tradition, but there are Dutch and German variations too (and I'm sure other ones as well). We told the boys to put out their shoes and when they woke up in the morning, if they had been good, there would be treats inside their shoes. If they were naughty, then coal would be there instead (we had to explain COAL was not COLE - they were a bit confused and concerned for Cole's well being). And while coal should have probably been in Rix's shoes (five is a hard age!) we put treats in their shoes at night. We had the shoes inside because treats in shoes on our porch is an open invitation for the neighborhood dogs and/or raccoons to eat them up. So anyway, the treats were by the front door, and Bryan and I woke up the next morning to Rix and Bryce chomping away on their treat while watching cartoons. We didn't even hear them wake up! They had eaten through over half of their candy and cakes! We'll learn next year to keep the shoes filled with treats closer to our bedroom.

Yes, even Bryan and I got candy! The boys were super concerned that we wouldn't get treats if we didn't put our shoes out. So we complied - and it paid off! Treats for all!Rix showing off what is left of his treats.We had some luck that morning. Not only can Cole not get out of bed on his own, but he can't open his own treats! His treats were rationed better than those of his brothers.
Bryce's turn to show off!

Another tradition that we love (okay, I love) is getting matching outfits for the boys. A few years ago I would pass the cute outfits in Target and drool. Then last year the boys got matching outfits for Kory's wedding, so I used them for Christmas and I loved having them match! And as a bonus it makes for a great photo op! Then this year my awesome shopper of a mother-in-law got the boys matching outfits again. They are adorable and I couldn't have picked something cuter. I love them!! I tried (and tried) to get a good picture of all three, but I've come to accept that a perfect picture may never happen, but that's life with three boys!After many (and many) of these... seriously, what is Cole doing?...we got this one (finally!). While not perfect, it works and shows how crazy my kids really are!

Every year we get an annual pass to the Point Defiance Zoo. The pass comes with free admission to Zoolights too! We went last year and loved it! It's like being in a wonderland of Christmas lights. Last year it was freezing cold, but this year it was way more tolerable, so we braved it again. We had an extra pass so we brought Miss Olivia with us. It was fun for the boys to have her there, and I got a taste of the princess attitude!

See? I could set up a tent (with heater, running water, and a TV) at the zoo and live there!In front of the rainbow (it's hard to tell that is what it is - sorry!)Cole, Bryan, and Olivia in front of my favorite tree! They had this same tree last year and I loved it.After seeing all the lights we let the kids play. I know. We rock.It's so dang cold outside my nose is red! Bummer! The only picture of me on this whole post and I look like Rudolph :( Oh well! In this picture you can see the rainbow better.

After Zoolights we let the kids go to Target and pick out a Christmas present for each other. I really want them to understand that Christmas isn't all about getting presents for themselves, but about giving to others. I took Rix and Olivia so Rix could pick out something for Cole and Bryce, and Bryan took the other two to pick out something for Rix. The whole time Rix is picking out toys that he woud like and saying they would be for Cole or Bryce. He was not getting it. So finally Bryan and I met up and decided that Bryce and Cole would "pick out" and Nerf sword for Rix, and then a few minutes later I would take Rix by them and he would "pick out" Nerf swords for Cole and Bryce. So much easier! We'll work on that whole "giving" concept next year!

On Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house for finger foods and snacks and games. I made a red velvet cake, which Bryan frosted for me (I hate frosting those things!). It is a super festive cake to make! And then Carissa and I kept with Hjelm tradition and shopped for stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve.

Look at that precision!I'm not sure if my dad is smiling because he is watching the kids open presents or because he knows it's almost time for them to go home and he will finally get some peace and quiet!Bryce got some Ben 10 toys from Nana and Papa! We finally have a Kevin Levin and a Forever Knight to add to our collection! Yeah! A Didj!Do you see the excitement on his face? It's Bob the Builder!The kids were surprised to find Santa at the door! (Shhh...don't tell them, but we wrapped their jammes, you know, the ones from Walmart on Black Friday, and set them out on the front porch for Santa to pick up!). Growing up we always got pajamas for Christmas and we always opened them Christmas Eve. It's fun letting them open the present and then they have a fun new pair of jammies to wear!So the picture quality isn't great, but do you see how excited Bryce is? He was like this the whole time Santa was here. And, again, Rix asked for Hot Wheels and Bryce wanted a "play thing". Hmmm...Here Bryce is getting his present from Santa. And it was really cute because Cole kept saying "Santa, please open my treat" over and over again. He really warmed up to Santa fast!All us kids went in together to get my parents a picture of the Idaho Falls temple. My mom loves the picture because it shows the falls (which aren't there anymore) and we personalized it to say Hjelm Family with their wedding date. It's pretty cool!After Santa left we took the boys home to decorate cookies for Santa. By this time it was getting really late, and this same thing happened last year where we decorated the cookies really late at night. Next year we are doing this in the afternoon! But the boys really love doing this, so I wasn't going to let a little thing like bed time take it away!As this picture clearly shows, Cole did not want to decorate the cookies. He preferred eating the decorations instead. It's a very Cole-thing to do.Opening presents! We tried taking turns, and for the most part we did, but they were too excited! The best part for Bryan and I was just sitting back and watching them.Mr. Potato Head! You can sort of see Rix wearing his new puffy vest (something he actually specifically asked for) and the Nerf swords in the background. They are pretty fun to play with!This is how Rix was most of the day. Either like this or playing the Wii!And this is how Bryce was most of the day!

After presents we had a big breakfast, cleaned up, and went to the Poyfair's house for Asian noodles and homemade egg rolls (yum!). Then it was back home to Bryan and I could pack for....the CRUISE!! (Post to follow!!)