Christmas Day!!

I was so excited for Christmas this year. We had a big surprise for our kids and I could hardly stand it. I could not get to sleep Christmas eve, I was up putting finishing touches on our surprise until 1:00am. Crazy!! I think I might have been more excited than the kids at our house.

This is the famous youngest to oldest lineup! This comes from the Southwick family christmas morning tradition. The kids line up youngest to oldest and have to wait behind a sheet that is pinned up in front of the family room door. When everything is ready and Dad is prepared with the video camera, they can enter!! The kids were a little shocked this year to enter the family room and find that Santa had left them each one present and there wasn't much under the christmas tree. There was a little concern...except for Chris and I...we were loving every minute of their suspense!! Luckily the kids drew names and exchanged gifts with each other. Here they are with the gifts they gave to each other. Notice the corndogs for Kade!!

The final present under the tree was a puzzle box. They unwrapped it...with a little disappointment I might add... and were told to put it together and follow the instructions they would find on the back. This led them to the next puzzle that would need to be put together to find the next clue. I have to admit, we might have overdone it on the puzzles. They had a ton of fun finding the puzzles and not so much fun putting them all together. There were 8 puzzles all together.

Another puzzle to put together!! They taped the front of the puzzle once it was put together so they could flip it over and find the next clue. My clever husband made up all of the clues. He is a master at rhymes!!

This was the final puzzle! Kylee is reading what it says on the back. This is what it said:

We think you should sit, please do not stand,

We don't want you to faint when you find you are

going to DISNEYLAND!!

Uncle Bill, Aunt Marci, Alecia, Karl and Alex too,

We'll all be going together - my what a zoo!!

This trip will be fun, this trip will be great,

As we spend time together and great memories create!

So pack your bags and get ready for fun...

As we will spend 8 days in the California sun!!

Get excited, Be Happy, Get ready to play,

We're leaving not tomorrow, but on Sunday!

Merry Christmas!!

Love, Mom and Dad

It was a very fun surprise. We had a big box with the last puzzle full of presents that contained things to do on the long drive down and back. Just some silly games, coloring books, etc. We found out later that Kylee and Emilee had become a little suspicious and were conspiring in their bedroom at night trying to figure out if we were going somewhere for Christmas. It took a little bit for it to sink in. Quincy came up to me about 5 minutes after the whole thing was over and said with a very confused look on her face..."Are we really going to Disneyland?" When I told her yes and that we were leaving day after tomorrow, a big smile spread across her face! It was a fun Christmas morning!!

Next came the traditional Chritmas Breakfast at my parents house. We love this. We eat a fabulous breakfast and then exchange gifts with my side of the family.

We spent some time in the afternoon visiting Grandpa and Grandma Wyatt. It was great to see them and spend some time with them for Chirstmas.

We finished the day with Christmas Dinner in Kaysville with Bill and Marci and their family. This was great because we could all finally talk freely and make plans for our trip! It was a surprise for their kids too. We were very blessed this year as we are every year.