The Richins Family: Christmas 2012

Well, it has been almost a month since I blogged last. I guess that is what happens when you have a newborn. But it feels good to be back in the blogging world. I'd love to start out by recounting our Christmas. I have to say that I was secretly hoping Jacob would have made his appearance before Christmas, so he could share it with us, but looking back, it was nice having him make his appearance when he did...but we will have to get to his story later. Now for our Christmas adventure!

This year, we were super blessed to have my mom, Gloria, and my brother, Robert, join us for Christmas! They flew in on Christmas Eve to be with us. So, the morning of Christmas Eve, we helped get them from the airport. It was snowing when they came in, but they arrived safe and sound. That afternoon, we headed to Nana and Papa's house for some Christmas Eve fun. We had ribs for Christmas Eve dinner and opened a gift from Nana and Papa. We even got Mom and Robert a gift to open while we were there. Alexander absolutely loves the car he got from Nana and Papa on Christmas Eve! He also had fun pushing around Nana's walker that night. It is his new fascination, every time we see them! Below are some pictures of our fun that night:

Christmas day was great too! I have to say that I was super happy to FINALLY get my very own white Christmas! When I first moved to Washington, from Florida, I was so excited for a white Christmas, but in all my years there, I never got one. And the one Christmas that it snowed, I was serving my mission in Pennsylvania, where we didn't have any snow on the ground. Looks like I needed to move to Utah to finally get one. Of course, the rest of the day was great too. We started out the day by opening our stockings. That is always fun. And Santa took really good care of each of us. After opening our stockings, we went over to Russ and Diane's. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast casserole together, and then opened a few gifts together. Below are some pictures of our fun together:

Scott loved his new game that Robert got for him!

This present, was opened a few times by Alexander BEFORE Christmas! He must have known it was for him and would be his favorite present. He just loves this car that Mommy and Daddy got for him :)

This was another favorite Christmas gift of Alexander's...the ball pit! We turned the pack n' play into a ball pit! Grandma and Grandpa got him the balls, and it is great for entertaining him while I feed Jacob. He loves it!

Even Jacob got a few things for Christmas!

Okay, so after all that fun, we headed back home so Alexander could get a nap. After his nap, we headed back to Nana and Papa's. We opened gifts, and had more ribs for dinner. We had a great time while there. My only complaint, was that Jacob hadn't come yet. Being big and prego, I got so hot in their place. It turns out they had the place set to 78 degrees, so it isn't too surprising that I got hot. At one point I stepped outside to cool off. I guess that is what you get for being pregnant in the winter time! It really was a great time though. We had fun opening gifts and just being together. Alexander scored big time too! He had so many gifts, that we ended up having my mom and brother help him open some so they wouldn't feel bored. It was cute watching them help him out. Below are some more pictures of all our fun together: