Christmas Morning at the Douberlys!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dustin had to work a 12 hour shift today but was lucky enough to come home for "lunch" at 8am. He got stay for 2 hours which was nice. We opened gifts and ate lots of Christmas Candy and cookies for breakfast! The kids were pleased with their gifts. I'm not sure if there's a favorite yet. We tried to simplify things this year and I think we succeeded. I was most excited about the play kitchen, I think. We received lots and lots of books this year and, as I write this, my sweet boys are sitting quietly on the couch looking through them. Thank You to everyone who sent gifts. We hope all of you have had a wonderful morning, too!

The Children Were Nestled All Snug in Their Beds...

Jeff

Jenna

Henry

I love to take photos of the kids asleep on Christmas Eve. I think I love it because my parents did it one year and that photo is one of my all-time favorites. In it, I've actually climbed into bed with my big brother Dennis and we're both out cold- me in my footie pajamas! So cute! So now, I capture these moments for my little ones. Maybe someday I'll make a little book for each of them with all their Christmas Eve photos. We'll have to wait and see. Sleep tight!

Henry's Kindergarten Holiday Program

Here are the Kindergarten Classes of Chief Joseph School getting ready for their holiday program. Henry did a great job. I was surprised that these two classes learned 6 songs for the program. Henry is in the front row, a little towards the right in a navy blue sweater.

You call that a sandwich?

Let me start out by saying that sometimes I wonder if I baby Henry too much. I hear from other moms that other kids Henry's age are allowed to do more or expected to do more than I make Henry do. Some examples are, I know a mom who has her boys (who are my boys' ages) empty the dishwasher. Another mom has her boys showering on their own. Anyways, this afternoon I found myself in a tidy basement with Jenna asleep, the boys playing nicely, and my 20 minute Pilates DVD in my hand. (I was cleaning up the left out DVDs at the time) I thought, hey, I'm going to actually do this. Due to some back issues the doctor had told me no Pilates until after my latest visit which was this past Monday. So I popped it in and got started which, of course, made my boys instantly need me. I told them I was busy and to just give me 20 minutes. Henry asked me if he could make a sandwich. I thought, okay, maybe I should let him try this. How bad could it turn out...the kitchen was clean....he knows where stuff is....yeah, well... the photo is of what I found when I came upstairs...

Apparently, Henry and Jeffrey made Peanut Butter-Heath Bar Baking chips-butterscotch pudding sandwiches, without the crusts, of course!

Chugga! Chugga! Chugga! Chugga! Whoo! Whoo!

Tonight for FHE we built this fabulous gingerbread train, from a kit, of course! :) We won this kit at Dustin's group Christmas party gift exchange. Needless to say the boys were VERY excited. I think it turned out pretty cute. It's 8pm now and it's already been disassembled and partially eaten. The kids were a mess but they sure had fun tonight!

Ward Christmas Program

For our Ward Christmas Party this year we had a Ward Family Musical Christmas Program. The gym was set up to represent a family living room and families were invited to lead musical numbers or perform musical numbers. It was meant to be a casual evening around the piano like so many families do during the holiday season. Our family sang Jingle Bells. We sang the verse and everyone joined in on the chorus while Henry and Jeff rang little sets of jingle bells. I hope it went well. :) Henry also sang "Away in a Manger" with the Primary children and Dustin sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" with the Priesthood Quorums. After the program we had cookies and cocoa and milk. We brought our ride-on train sets and everyone under the age of 5 (which is something like 30% of the ward) had a blast riding them around and around and around. They were a HUGE hit.