Our Christmas Day...

After a very big build up and MUCH anticipation, Christmas day finally arrived. To say that we were all excited is an understatement. We were ALL busting for Christmas morning to arrive. So much so that one little member of our family awoke at 2.30 am desperate to open his presents. Thankfully we convinced him a little more sleep was needed, and we were all up and excitedly opening our gifts by about 6am.

In our family, we have a little tradition where one member is chosen as Santa, pops on a Santa hat and hands one present at a time to each family member. It was my turn to be Santa this year, so I was thrilled to hand each gift to those I love most.

I just LOVED seeing the huge smiles on everyones faces as they opened gifts to reveal things that they had been wishing and hoping for. These smiles make my Mummy heart very happy.

Over the months leading up to Christmas, I had been working on some very special and very secret gifts for my two kiddies. One of the main ones for Emily was a very special customised Blythe doll. I actually sent one of my dolls away to an amazing Australian customiser, China-lilly, and had her turned into a mini me of Emily. I think Emily's face says it all - she was thrilled!!

I think Emily's new Blythe is a perfect Mini me - they match each other beautifully and the smile she brings to Emily's face makes me the happiest Mum on earth. Now that school is finished, we have our happy girl back. I am beyond happy about that too!

The kids were thrilled to get quite a few special and longed for gifts, like a sock monkey each. Made even more special because they were handmade by our friend Mandy.

Jasper was very thrilled with his gifts too. There were HUGE smiles, screams and happy tears at our home on Christmas morning. A pretty perfect start to the day I think.

We also worked with a few family members to get another special gift for Emily, because we really want to encourage her movie making. Her screams and HUGE smile told us 'we did good' when she opened a brand new video recorder in HD. Now her movies can be more the quality that she likes. I can't wait to see what she creates now too.

This year we spoiled hubby with an early Christmas present of a new lawn mower that he loves. And on Christmas day he recieved DVD's, clothes and few Daddy type gifts. He was happy too.

My kiddies spoiled me with gorgeous gifts that I totally LOVE (that I will share in another blog post) but I just had to share my very special gift. This year I was totally spoiled by receiving a beautiful red haired Kenner (original Blythe doll from 1972, the year I was born) all the way from the US. Please excuse my tired, lack of makeup face in the background. I can't put into words how thrilled I am to own this dream dolly - she is truly a very special gift and one I will treasure always.

After we finished opening our gifts at home, we headed to my parents for breakfast with my parents, one of my brothers and his family as well as my Mum's twin sister. It is my job each year to make a batch of pancakes, so I was pretty busy cooking and didn't get to take a lot of photos, however I did snap this one of my brothers pancake. It surely did look delicious!

After breakfast, it was time for more present giving!! Jasper was chosen to be Santa for this gift giving part of the day, and with his big smile in place, handed out the gifts one at a time.

Emily found these gorgeous vintage decorations at my parents home. Aren't they divine!! We might happen to be bringing them to live to our house soon - yay!

After the present time, came family photo time, something that has become a tradition that we all love. Firstly, here is my super cute Mum and Dad. This year they bought matching Christmas t-shirts. How cute do they look!!

We then headed into the family room for a family photo. It is so fun to capture our family this way. I love looking back at photos from years gone by and see how much the kids have all grown too.

Then, as per tradition, we do a silly photo. It is SO much fun to see everyone in their silly state. I love that our family is a little crazy!

Then, it was time to photograph the cousins with Granny and Grandad. LOVE these faces...

These two were never far from each other ALL day. I love that we could give Emily something that brings her so much joy.

My brother and his family then headed off to Christmas with my sister in laws family, which left 7 of us for lunch. Michael (my hubby) and I were in charge of the main meal, so we got busy with our yummy baked dinner. It was delicious.

Before heading home so that the kids could have a play with their toys and Daddy could have a rest (insert sleep), we took a few more family photos. More memories captured.

Later, we shared a dinner of leftovers with my parents and headed home, happy after a day filled with family, food and gifts. We had a wonderful day, and it ended too quickly. I am already looking forward to next year.

I hope your Christmas day was filled with wonderful memories too... xx Janelle