Christmas and beyond...

Yogurt and toast for breakfast...

Tyler is a trinket carrying kid--you know the type. The kid that always has at least one, usually a handful, of small toys/treasures/trinkets that go with them everywhere. Tyler is that kid, and always has been, though what he chooses to carry around changes everyday. The other day Jeremy and I came across a video I took years ago of Tyler on the day he was getting his front tooth extracted. In the video he's lying on his back in the dentist chair, an oxygen mask covering his face, eyes towards the ceiling where a movie is playing, with his arms dangling over the side. Then the camera follows one of those arms down to a small hand that's tightly clutching a little toy 4-wheeler.

This is the kind of trivia about Tyler that I'm afraid I'll forget someday, so yesterday morning I took a picture of the things he had brought down to breakfast with him. After breakfast he was coloring, so he set his trinkets amidst his coloring supplies.


A small toy penguin.
A bottle of Spider-man hand sanitizer.
A toy car from a box of Cheerios.
A baseball pen that Alexis gave him for Christmas.

You know, the essentials.

In his stocking this year Tyler got a watch, which he has worn very responsibly every day since. He constantly informs me of the time, though he's never been taught how to read a watch so his pronouncements aren't usually correct. But in my opinion, that makes it even better. He's very into numbers lately and has also taught himself the concept of adding and adds things all the time.

So, Christmas. Christmas with kids is really the greatest thing ever. Christmas makes me want to have a million kids so I never have to experience a Christmas morning without children ever again. Fortunately, reality always hits the day after Christmas.

And this year I especially loved Christmas because it was on a Sunday, and after opening presents and eating omelets we headed to church where we got to talk and sing about our Savior. That was my favorite part of the day.

As I was going through my pictures to see which ones I wanted to share, I was overcome with an intense amount of pride in my children. It's simply spectacular to watch your children grow up and become their own person. I know mine are young still, but everyday I get glimpses into the person they are shaping into, and it's really incredible. I feel so blessed to be a parent, but even more blessed to be, specifically,
Alexis' parent,
and Tyler's parent,
and Ryan's parent.

But the real blessing, the best present that comes from the Christmas season, is that I get to be with them forever. Families ARE forever. That's why I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, because He gave me that chance. He gives me that chance every single day.

Here are those wonderful children with some of their (more tangible) Christmas loot:

Alexis got a hair feather and lots of clothes/accessories for her doll.
And lots of clothes for herself, and books for her brain.

Tyler got a building kit with a real hammer, nails, wood and glue.
The perfect gift for this kid, who wants to be just like his dad.

Ryan got more cars than he can count.

(especially if you include all of Tyler's new trucks that he steals everyday...)
A fistful of cars is all this kid needs to be content.
(If only that were actually true, I'd get a lot more done around here.)

And Jeremy and I got time to be together, time to be with our children, time to be with my family and with his family, time to enjoy the day. And really, in this stage of our lives, time is one thing we often only dream of having, which makes it a nice gift to be given.