Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas!

As always, Christmas morning with the boys was lots of fun! They were very excited about their own gifts, but it was neat to see how excited they got about giving their Secret Santa gifts. In fact, the oldest boys insisted that Secret Santa gifts be handed out first! They literally couldn't wait to see their brothers open the gifts they picked out for each other.

Of all the presents under our tree, a few were instant hits! At the top of that list is the Wii. Martin had it all set up before the boys' woke up so they didn't even notice it at first. Here is Preston's reaction once he realized Santa had really delivered the Wii to our house and the expression on his face when he opened a couple of Wii games to go with it:

Okay, so he can be pretty dramatic at times. Here is a quick little video showing why I like the Wii so much better than the other game systems:

You can't lay around on the couch and play the Wii. So far, every game we've played has involved aerobic exercise. You should see us playing doubles tennis! Garrett has a mean serve. Nolan can out bowl the whole family and Preston dominates the football games. Most surprisingly of all (and perhaps the most embarrassing), Liam actually beat his big brothers at boxing. I think that is what they are playing in the video.

This is the whole gang ready to play:

Other items at the top of the list included "Webkinz" pets. They actually got to open those on Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve Eve. So, of course, their new pets had to sleep with them on Christmas Eve night and were ready and waiting to join the fun on Christmas morning.

Our house was originally designed to sit at the top of a ski-resort mountain in Idaho, (long story) so the lay-out is a bit different than more traditional Tennessee homes. The kids' bedrooms are all downstairs. So the rule on Christmas morning is that they can't go past the top of the steps until everyone is awake and ready. Here they are patiently waiting (Webkinz too) for Mom and Dad to make our way to the family room:

Another gift worthy of honorable mention is the mini pool table from Nana. Liam loved it so much he dragged it all by himself down the hall (still in the box) all the way to our office so Dad would open it and set it up for him. I'm pretty sure it weighs more than him, but he was one determined little boy.

Last, but certainly not least, here are a few more miscellaneous Christmas day photos:

More on the Go-Cart later....