a happy christmas

i'm sure tons of things have happened since my last blog post but i really want to keep this one short before i forget what it was i wanted to write down. i'll start off with makayah. as diva-ish as she is, she can be so sweet and so cuddly. during bedtime, i usually read a story and sing a couple songs for the kids before i turn off the light. but this night, makayah held me tight around my neck, kissed my nose and said, "i wuff oo!" then she crinkles her nose and gives me her shy, cheesy smile. she melts my heart. :) her new thing lately though, is doing everything on her own! it's kinda driving me nuts. just tonight, i was trying to help her put her jammies on and she turned away and yelled out, "NO! I DEED EET!" meaning, "i'll do it." and she'll say that with just about everything from feeding herself to dressing and undressing. oh boy.. anyway, this christmas we got our christmas lights out a little late, seeing as we just got back from arizona, and sam just finished with his LSAT. however late a start we got, we did get them out and i had isaiah and makayah help me out. isaiah helped string the lights around our two pathetically tiny shrubs, makayah helped me plug in the lights, and taadaa! isaiah breathed in ever so carefully and said, "mom, it's beautiful. this is gonna be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" the night before christmas eve, we heard a knock on our door. it was our bishop from our boundary ward. he looked down at isaiah and makayah and said, "we heard you were good kids this year so santa wanted to stop by and visit!" both isaiah and makayah (wide-eyed and oh-so excited) ran out without any shoes on. i grabbed them both and slid on their boots and slipped on their coats, i swear it was like trying to dress up wind-up toys. they ran out in the snow said hello to santa, took a quick pic, and happily took their treat inside. makayah wasn't so sure about the picture taking part and having to sit on his lap. she screamed but once she got her goodies, all was well once again. on christmas eve, we shook things up a bit by going out to our friend's home for dinner. when we got there, tarzan's mom asked isaiah, "where's my hug?" isaiah gave her a puzzled look, shrugged, and said, "i don't have it!" and ran away to play with his good friend tarzan. after a yummy meal and lots of laughs, we headed home. we had soooo much to do. we had the kids put out christmas coke and cookies for santa and we all hung up our stockings...then off to bed for the little ones. sam and i raced around to locate and wrap the gifts, fix the tree that the cat had destroyed and knocked over, tidy up the house, and hung up all the leftover christmas lights we could find...ALL OVER. and just before i was about to turn in at 2:30 in the morning, sam yelled at me to come outside. i went out, and we watched a red fox walking up our street. the snow was falling and everything was aglow from the white wintery reflections. it was heavenly. we were hoping to be able to sleep in, but at 5am, the kids were up. "WOW! SANTA CAME!" "LIGH! - LIGH!" i somehow managed to corral them into our bed and we all slept until 7:30. it was snowing when we woke up, and the house was glowing with twinkle lights, and the kids couldn't be more happy. christmas is always so much more fun with kids. we hung out and watched a couple movies, went sledding, and had our christmas ham. it really was the best christmas ever. :)