The Johnson Family: Santa came to the Johnson House!

Jeff's Mom loves to tell about how excited Jeff would get on Christmas morning when he saw that Santa had come. She tells that he would say in a sweet little boy voice, "He came....he came....he really came!" There is not much that I love more than the sight of my kids, full of excitement, on Christmas morning. This year was no exception. Emma, as usual, was the first one up....at 5:30 a.m. (which, by the way, is a little late for her!). Jeff & I had only been asleep for a couple of hours, so we sent her back to bed. She came back at 6:30 and couldn't stand it any longer! The babies were still sleeping, and we decided to let them sleep a while longer. We headed downstairs and, believe it or not, Santa had come to the Johnson house in full force! Emma & Ethan checked out their Santa gifts and opened stockings--it was nice to have some time alone with them before the two-year-olds entered the scene! For Emma, there was a new bike (she keeps outgrowing them!). For Ethan, Santa brought Star Wars galore....a "command center" tent, blaster game, and action figures.

We finally woke Adam & Evan up a little later, and they came in all sleepy eyed and not sure what was going on. It didn't take long, however, for them to realize that Santa had come and there were more gifts to be opened! When we went to see Santa at the mall, Evan had asked him for an airplane. By Christmas morning, we had opened presents at several different events and every time Evan, a little confused, would ask, "Where's my airplane?" He was excited to FINALLY get the airplane that he had asked for! Adam, our Buzz Lightyear fan, had asked for a Rocket Ship, and Santa delivered the best rocket ship ever!!

They must have been very good kids this year because Santa was very good to all of them! We had breakfast, but first, true to our Johnson Family Tradition, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and blew out candles on our biscuits & jelly! It was a great Christmas morning!!

James Jr. (Jeff's brother), Sherry, and the Johnson Boy's (Korey, Garrett, & Noah) came around Noon--we had a great lunch with them and the kids had fun playing with all of their new toys. It has been a long time since we have gotten to spend Christmas with them and it was really nice and relaxing.

That night, Jeff and I fell into bed exhausted from the lack of sleep and constant activity of the past several days. It was worth it all though, just to be with our family and to celebrate God's amazing gift to all of us.

Emma's new iPod. Yeah! Now I can have mine back!

Evan give our newest family member a quick brush.

Adam, still a little sleepy, checks out his new rocket!

Our kids ask for a dog every year--this is about a close as we can get right now! His name is Biscuit and he is very well trained. Best of all, you can turn him "off" at night!