Christmas morning practice run

You've heard me mention that the Rogers' Christmas schedule was a little bit earlier than the rest of the world this year.  With Bruce at work over Christmas, Alysha and Brody living in Kentucky, and Jeremy having to work that weekend, we opted to have Christmas morning after breakfast with Santa had settled down.  Cambrie had seen the presents under the tree all week and was dying to open them.  I told her no we had to wait, but Bruce doesn't have to listen to the same kind of advice and opened his present the day before.  He got a golf simulator.  It is the coolest thing.  You set up the tee with the sensor, a net to catch your balls, and a computer to the side so you can watch exactly what happens to your ball after you hit it. They have Master courses loaded into their program so that afternoon Jeremy and Bruce played a round of 18 at Augusta without ever leaving the garage. 

Since Santa Claus wasn't around we tried to get a smiling picture of the girls in their darling Christmas outfits. 

Then it was time to open presents. 

Cambrie was all smiles as she opened up a package of Tinkerbell Barbies. 

Luckily for everyone, there were enough dolls that we could each have one to play with. Cambrie told us all their names and what their talents were.  Then she showed the boys how to help the fairies fly...you can tell they had a blast :) 

I wasn't sure how McKenzie would react to presents this year since she's still so young, but she loved her new toys.  She pushed all the buttons you could push.  She made all the noise she could.  And she opened and closed every door.  I can't believe she's old enough to play with toys! 

Ally and Brody gave Cambrie some more furniture to her dollhouse so now she has a living room and dog house for her little family.  It was a great addition since her family only had a kitchen table and a swing set in their mansion.

Look how cool this is.  The four of us wearing our new golf gloves from Bruce and holding new boxes of golf balls.  All four of us love to golf and I can't wait for the chance to go play a round together.  

So what's in these mysterious boxes you may ask? 

Well our new jammies of course! 

Cozy matching pj's for everyone! 

The last present from Nana and Papa was big.  So big in fact that Cambrie and McKenzie had to start at different ends to get it opened as fast as possible. 

It was a wagon.  Cambrie was so excited that she was holding the only part she could actually lift, the tire.  Once we assembled it when we got home, we have used it every day.  These girls love that Radio Flyer. 

When McKenzie received her first little puppy, she gave it a great big hug and laughed her goofy "baa" laugh. 

And what's Christmas with a little cheese...

...and entertainment?  Cambrie couldn't fathom why Papa was wearing a ribbon his head.  She was insistent that it was too silly that she eventually took it off his head for him.  But I think he fits his name, Bruce Lee. 

Our gift from Jeremy's parents actually came the same week we moved in, a new TV.  None of ours made it through the move with us and we were very grateful to have a link to the outside world again.  This box was just a prop used for the excitment of Christmas morning.

Ally and I didn't have a chance to finish Leesa's gift, so you will all have to wait until Christmas morning to find out what it is.  Leesa, you're going to love it.  (Curious as to what it is yet?)  But Ally used her awesome art and language skills to make her a fun card from the little elves working on her gift to open in the meantime.

And Cambrie's last gift was from me and Jeremy.  We were originally planning on flying home and thought it was about time Cambrie had her own suitcase.  She filled up her new sparkly Tinkerbell suitcase with all of her new toys and wheeled it around the house until bed time.  Unfortunately we ended up driving home instead.  Oh well, we'll just have to go on a vacation to use it...   :)

Christmas was fantastic, and I think I'm as excited as the girls to get to celebrate it twice.

Breakfast with Santa

I can't believe it's already time for Breakfast with Santa at the Rogers.  This family tradition began years ago when ZCMI had Santa Claus come to the store for breakfast the first Saturday in December.  The family would get up around 5:00 AM just to be the first in line so when it came time for Santa's performance they had front-row seats.  Even though ZCMI stopped that tradition, the extended Rogers' family still do their own version each year.  We start off with a breakfast of eggs with ham, hash browns, muffins, juice and chocolate milk.  The tables are always decorated in red and green, and Leesa's Santa collection is on display in the middle of each table.  The family has grown so much that we no longer fit inside the house.  Bruce cleans and warms the garage so it is more like an annex than a garage, and we eat out there. Each person also gets a Christmas cracker.  To open it you pull each end quickly and a little firecracker pop happens.  Inside there is some type of little toy.  The young cousins go around after everyone has finished their breakfast and collect as many miniature toys as possible. 

After breakfast we are always treated with a visit from St. Nick himself.  He reads a story; this year is was "The Night Before Christmas."   In the version he reads the illustrator actually designed the Santa Claus after our Santa.  The kids think it's magical that Santa looks exactly right.

After he's done he invites each kid (or unmarried cousin) up to his lap to ask what they want for Christmas.  This year he even invited up unborn Fisher to sit on his lap.  It was hysterical watching Dano move Fisher into position without sitting on his lap herself. 

 Cambrie was waiting for her turn so patiently that I began to wonder if she wanted to sit on his lap at all.  But she hopped right up there and whispered in his ear that she really wanted a bouncy ball with a handle.  She wants one so badly that it is on every Christmas list.  Don't worry, Santa has one ready for her.  McKenzie simply asked to be given back to mommy.

We also do family pictures with Santa each year.  Some years are better than others.  Last year the cooperation was good...I was just huge and pregnant.  This year McKenzie wanted nothing to do with Santa.  She cried and screamed like I was abandoning her.  I'll just have to put her screaming picture up next to Cambrie's screaming picture.  Each kid has to have one right?  Dantley is currently on his mission Peru, but we got him dressed up in the red and black anyway and had his surrogate stand in for him.

Then it is time for the cousin gift exchange.  Cambrie gave Parker Toy Story Operation, and a green Nerf football.  She was so excited for his reaction, because he loved them both. 

Larissa gave Cambrie a giant floor puzzle and "How to Train Your Dragon."  The puzzle has more pieces than she's ever used before, but she's excited about it and asked to put it together twice during the remainder of the party. 

Caysen gave McKenzie a little pull dog with a wagging tail and a Chatter telephone.  She got the hang of ripping the paper pretty quickly.  I think Christmas morning will be really fun with her around.

  McKenzie has a new little trick.  She puts her hand up to her ear whenever she sees someone talking on the phone.  I know she knows what she's doing (at first I thought it was an ear infection), but she is totally pretending she has a phone so I talk to her while she's on the other line.  When she opened her phone I said, "Hello," and she immediately put the receiver up to her ear.  It was the cutest thing ever. 

While the parents got everything cleaned up the cousins just got to play.  I'm glad that even though Cambrie doesn't have any first cousins she enjoys playing with her second cousins who are just her age.  She and Kora played with the Legos so quietly for so long that Lenesa forgot Kora was there and almost left without her :)  

The party was so much fun that it just wore us out, but I was determined to get a smiling picture of Cambrie before the day was over and I tickled her into submission.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Little Bits

Here are just some snapshots of our vacation at the Rogers.  McKenzie began the trip being absolutely terrified of Nakita.  McKenzie would look at her and start to cry.  She slowly started warming up to her until Kita barked at the front door.  McKenzie cried her cry of terror and we were back to square one.  Eventually Kenzie decided that the puppy wasn't that bad after all and would follow her around the house.  She even got to the point where she let Nakita take a treat our of her hand. 

When McKenzie doesn't have a walker available or a finger to hold onto, she opts for anything she can push.  At our house it's a small wooden chair.  At the Rogers she pushed around her container of toys everywhere. 

Her walking really advanced these past few weeks.  She chooses to walk instead of crawl and has become a very graceful faller.  Since she is more stable now she's able to pull toys as she walks. 

One of her favorite snacks are pickles.  Now that she has two little teeth she can actually chew them instead of simply sucking them dry. 

Cambrie and McKenzie play together fairly well...most of the time...as long as McKenzie doesn't take any of the toys...or knock anything down...or disrupt Cambrie's play in any way.  All right, they're sisters, and they have their moments.  But I love moments like these: 

We tried to get their Christmas dress pictures taken while we were there.  I'll save you the ranting of the the unprofessional experience we had and skip right to the part where we left the store with two grumpy, tired girls and no pictures.  To salvage the trip to the mall we hopped on the little Polar Express and went for a train ride. 

We finished up with some play time at the Dinosaur playground.  I love the heels and curls with the sweatshirt look Cambrie is sporting. 

McKenzie also learned to love the slide.  It was a worthwhile stop after all.

The Lights at Temple Square

For the past three years during our Christmas visits to Utah we've gone to see the Zoo Lights at Hogle Zoo.  We got the girls all bundled up, packed every once of snuggle gear we brought to Utah, then hopped in the car ready for a night of cold lights.  It wasn't until we were about half-way there that Bruce had the brilliant idea of checking to make sure they were open.  It's a good thing we did because the zoo didn't light their lights for two more days.  Apparently not everyone in Utah operates on the Rogers' 2010 Christmas schedule.  Since we were all ready to go anyway, we decided to go to Temple Square and see the lights.  It seemed like they had really cut back on the lights this year.  The walk-way in front of the temple wasn't lit and it was a little disappointing.  However, it brought more attention to the temple and maybe that was the purpose-to remind us why we were there. 

There were some fun red lights by the Assembly Hall. 

And the plaza was decorated with white lights surrounding the beautiful nativity scene out there.  My favorite part is Mary and Joseph with Baby Jesus on the reflecting pool.  It is so peaceful. 

We visited some of the other cultural nativities up by the Church Office building.  Bruce will be transfering to China for his next job rotation so we had to get a picture by the Asian-inspired nativity. 

Then we had some fun on the pedestal. 

When Cambrie climbed out from under her blanket she was shocked that she was still warm.  You see, she didn't believe me that's why I insisted she wear her snow pants, snow coat, hat, gloves, and boots.  Mom always knows best :) 

Bruce and Leesa were married in the Salt Lake Temple and this picture is reminiscent of their wedding years ago.  Thanks for taking us for a very fun evening :)