Our Christmas Day

I don't think Santa got here any earlier than, like, 3:30 am. According to the Santa Tracker he spent a lot of time in the Northwest Territories of Canada. And that was after visiting Cedar City, Utah.
I couldn't sleep because of all the anticipation and waiting to hear those magical bells and reindeer hooves. So I'll bet Michael and I didn't drift off to dream land till 'round about then, either. In the hopes of getting more than 2 hours of sleep, we tucked the kids in bed with a firm warning that if they woke up before 6 am, we would make them wait until 10 am to open all their gifts. They were super kind and slept in until 7:20.

I was in the middle of a pleasant dream wherein I was dancing in a froofy Gone With the Wind type gown with Miguel at a ball in a huge treehouse in Nome, Alaska. We were having the time of our lives until a herd of stampeding rhinos ruined the party and exclaimed, "He came! He came! Get up, get up, GET UP!" I tried to tell the rhinos to go away and come back around noon-ish, but they didn't listen. Then the middle rhino, a girl of about 8, said, "Then you shall feel the pain of a school morning!" And just like that it felt as though we had landed on the surface of the sun, only minus the heat. I remember screaming and feeling as though I would melt and then refreeze because the heat from our wood stove does not reach our cave here in the back of the house and it was like 17 below in our room last night. But as luck would have it, I lived. Señor and I peeled back the warm layers and migrated toward the inviting, flickering flames of the wood stove and Christmas tree (which was not really literally on fire) where we too got a little excited by the sight. One who was not so excited was The Bug.

No worries, though. She warmed up real quick. Just as soon as she got her milk and a good snuggle.

Some highlights include but are not limited to:
Hunter's desk bed.
Corrine's new camera.
Laynee.
Miguel giving me Corel Paint Shop Pro. Ten.
My awesome sweatshirt.
Miguel's face.
Corrine's mispronunciation of the word 'futon'. (Tu-fon? Toe-fon? Furnace? {Hunter came up with that one.})

And finally, being our little family.

Together.

Happy.

Healthy.

Warm.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday, too.