It's hard to believe another Christmas Day has come and gone.

And what a wonderful day we had here. The kids slept in today, so we didn't go down to see what Santa brought until about 8 AM. Nathan had been up during the night (still sick) so he and Scott were quite tired!

After Santa gifts we took a break so the big kids could adopt their new Webkinz, open Pokemon cards, and just have some fun while Scott took a quick nap.

Then we opened up the presents under the tree. We all got spoiled this year, especially the kids and me. Some highlights:

New bikes! Scott picked them out - they're awesome. Oh, and 3 new hockey sticks too.

Books, books, and more books. I got a new John Grisham and Dean Koontz which I'm excited about, along with some parenting books (one by Stephen Covey). Samantha got the entire Geronimo Stilton series (her favourite) and even Nathan got really excited about his new Panda Bear book. There are more, many more, but too many to list. I'll just say that we will definitely need a new bookshelf for all the new books around here.

Toys... lego, baseball mitt, bakugan, and a ride-on toy (for Nathan). Games.. lots of good ones, can't wait to try them all out!

Samantha surprised me with my very own Webkinz (a buffalo) - how cute is that? I'm planning to adopt him tomorrow as soon as I come up with a name. Right now I like Woody or Benji or Raymond. Any other ideas? (Leave me a comment)

I got a whole bunch of kitchen appliances: toaster, griddler, wok, food saver (sealer). This is funny... Scott and I got each other the same gift - a scale.

Some of Scott's gifts were ties, an electric razor, and lululemon pants.

The best present was to me from Scott. An appointment with LASIK! How cool is that? Definitely one of the most thoughtful and creative gifts ever. I need to go to the consultation before I get ahead of myself, but if all goes well, I may just be able to give up my contacts and glasses. That will be a dream come true for me!

Oh, and if that all wasn't enough, Scott scored with the VISA points this year. We always use up all of our VISA and Air Miles rewards to get Christmas gifts. I thought my Kitchen Aid Mixer topped everything (that was about 3 years ago now), but this year's VISA gift was pretty awesome... a Wii! And somehow Scott managed to get his hands on a Wii Fit, which is supposedly one of the most elusive gifts of the season this year. I don't know how he does it...

Nana and Papa arrived around noon with Grandma Paton. We had a great time with them, and it was so good to see them (it's been a little while).

We also talked on the phone to Mona, Jordana, Karri, Kim, Jeff, & Mark (all briefly). I called Sami, but got his voicemail. We didn't get to talk to my parents either, but hopefully tomorrow.

We had our big turkey dinner around 4:00 PM. Dinner was great, but the best part was that Scott ate everything (even the turkey, buns, and mashed potatoes) without any trouble swallowing. I can't remember the last time he had a meal like this with no trouble. I am SO happy about that.

The kids spent the rest of the day playing with their new stuff and hanging out. We watched the new Indiana Jones movie with the kids before bed tonight. I hope it wasn't too scary for them, as it was their first time watching a PG movie.

I was sad that Jesse and Nathan were still sick though. They were feeling better on and off, but by bedtime tonight Nathan was so hot his skin was just burning. He wouldn't take any Advil. He was congested too, so he couldn't have his soother. Scott gave him a blessing. He and Jesse both were so good and happy today, but I just felt so bad for them to be sick on Christmas.

There's so much more, I could go on and on, but it's late and I'm tired. This was a very memorable Christmas for me in lots of ways. First Christmas with five kids (I don't know why, but that was a big deal for me). We had a good experience with service (I'll post the family letter tomorrow). Again, there's more, but I hear Nathan now, so I need to sign off.

Merry Christmas!