Christmas (part2)

After our lovely time at the ballet, we headed over to Shelley's for our family party. We ate the most heavenly meal prepared by Grandma. Her posole is like a warm hug from the inside that fills your soul. It's almost ritualistic as you grind your oregano in your hands and sprinkle it in, and add in each additional topping. It's beautifully delightful. 

After dinner we watched a couple of nativity videos on lds.org and talked about the gifts Christ gave each of us. We then proceeded to exchange gifts with each other. The big joke was when Sam received a gift card to Kohl's and Miguel suggested he should buy underwear. Sam whittingly agreed  because Ben kept wearing his underwear. Oh, we all laughed at that! Then it was Ben's turn and he too got his own gift card to Kohl's "to buy his own underwear!" The best part was when Carlos actually did get underwear as his present from Grandma! It was great comedic timing. 

After gifting, we decided to sit around the living room and sing hymns. That's what Annabelle and Gabriela are doing in this picture. Afterwards Miguel took the reigns and we played a few minute to win it games. The kids loved that!

And then came Christmas morning. Max awoke to a brand new BOY's bicycle! Hooray!!! No more riding pink bikes for him. He also received a box of big boy Legos. He's been riding that bike throughout the house since it snowed Christmas Eve. He might be doing that a while since it seems like it will not ever clear up and defrost around here. 

 Gabriela got some long awaited materials for sewing.

 And the hot item this year that everyone received was Lego Friends and Elves.

 Don't let Julianne fool you, she was delighted, but wanted to difficult when it came to picture taking.

 Here is our Winter wonderland. It was beautiful and peaceful that Christmas morning.

 And these were the hot items this Christmas. My kids call them hamster balls! They played all day with these. Between my surgery and him being sick, this is about as close as we've been in two weeks! We told the girls they would have to wear these when they went on dates. Gives a whole new meaning to" stay out of my bubble!"