Christmas at the Stutz Household

I always love Christmas. It is always a sad day when the tree comes down and all the decorations go into boxes to be packed away for another year. This year, however, the tree came down yesterday! I had had about enough of the ornaments falling off and the string of beads falling to the floor. Our house now looks so lonely and sad but I am no longer hollering at Jentzen to stay out of the tree! Santa did find us this year. I was beginning to wonder if he would make a stop at all when the month started. We were having issues with both Iain and Jentzen behaving. We had some pretty knock down, drag out arguments and they both were told that they would be getting coal in their stockings. All I asked Santa for was the patience to deal with their tantrums and to guarantee me that they would grow out of this phase! Our festivities started on December 20th with the Stutz Family Party at Broc's mom and dad's house. It is always a blast when we get together with Broc's siblings. This year Broc's dad had a playroom all ready for the grand kids and boy did they love that! It was nice for the grown-ups to be able to talk without having to shout over the kids. Broc's dad plays Santa and hands out all the gifts. The kids have fun watching their cousins open their presents and us adults have fun watching what each of us received. Our dinner was yummy, we had chili and bread sticks. As usual we all were spoiled and it was a nice treat to have Stef and Mike in from Oregon. The Arnold Family party was on Christmas Eve and we enjoyed ham and turkey, potatoes, dip, crackers, salad, you know the traditional Christmas dinner. After dinner the families opened our presents and gave mom and dad their gifts. We always have fun with the gifts because we all clap and cheer after each present is opened. After we made it home Christmas Eve we all opened our Christmas jammies and watched Mickey's Christmas Carol, it's one of my favorite traditions. We watched the news for the Santa tracker and then shuffled the kiddos off to bed. Iain and Hunter woke up around 4:30 and Broc told them that as soon as Jentzen woke up they could get up. Well Iain fell asleep waiting and we ended up waking Jentzen and Iain up around 7:30. The boys enjoyed their Christmas and Broc and I did as well. We all were spoiled rotten and had fun opening our gifts. Mom and Dad came over for breakfast (a tradition that I am also enjoying) and then we headed out to their house in the afternoon so they could give all of us and our kids their gifts. I can't ever put into words how much I love the spirit of the season. I enjoy getting together with all of our family and I love how giving everyone gets. I know this is a monster of a post but I had to make sure I didn't forget anything. We have been truly blessed this year! Now I'm just hoping that Broc can find a job once the new year starts!