So, it was Christmas.

A few nights before Christmas, Chuck was helping Clyde say our nightly family prayer. Chuck prompted, "Please help us remember the true reason for Christmas" which Clyde repeated with his own flair: "Please help us remember the true reason for Christmas, trains."

This slightly incorrect idea may have been reinforced Christmas morning when Clyde and Will found this waiting for them:

Clyde found it a little earlier than we anticipated, as in 3 a.m. Will's crying had woken him up, and as he wandered from his room to ours, his sleepy eyes spotted the train table in the living room and immediately brightened. It was all over then; there was no convincing him to go back to bed. He seriously stayed up for TWO AND A HALF HOURS, guiding the trains around and around. Chuck and I, and eventually my mom, took shifts prying our eyelids open until Clyde finally gave up and fell asleep on the couch for a few more hours. I love this picture - smiling for the camera, all the while keeping a close eye on the train table, lest it disappear :).
About nine o'clock, Clyde woke up again, and this time another little Izatt boy joined in on the fun: Yes, Will sticks out his tongue on occasion when serious concentration is needed, and yes, he gets it from me. Oh, I love Will's face after seeing Thomas go through the little door (which activates a noise - it seriously sounds like we live in a train station now).

Clyde was SO excited to have a train whistle. We had spent a lot of time in Elko watching Pops' train go around the Christmas tree and playing with a super cool old train whistle there. Thanks Grandma Izatt for making sure we have our own to play with too!

We were eventually able to draw the boys away from the train table to check out their stockings. Chuck helped Will . . .

and Clyde helped himself. With both hands.

After a delicious brunch and the wonderful surprise arrival of my biggest brother Cody, we opened all of our presents. It was so fun to see everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. Here are some of the highlights:

Terri's parents gave Sam a TomTom GPS unit for their car. He was really excited to test it out later in the day to find the church where my dad's side of the family was meeting for dinner. We were all impressed by how it knew right where we were and when Sam was speeding!

Cody got some delicious Nutella, and was forced to keep it on his person for the rest of the day so that Sam wouldn't steal it. As his gift to all of us, Cody shaved that afternoon :).

My mom was super excited about this board game, which she's played other places but never owned. We tested it out later that evening, and it is definitely fun, although I will defend my much-mocked depiction of "George Foreman/babysitting/on the Mayflower" to the death.

Sam and Terri were the recipients of a Jana Izatt original personalized picture frame, created with the help of my wonderful Cricut machine. I have big plans to devote an entire post to my extremely impressive craftiness this holiday season. That way, if I never channel my inner Martha Stewart again, there is at least proof that I did once!

Finally, my dear, cute husband. I kid you not, this Tupperware was one his favorite presents. He had it all opened, clicked together (that's right, the lids click onto the base of the dishes so they won't fall into disarray as I allegedly let happen before) and lovingly placed in our pantry immediately.

Oh, and there isn't a picture, but the biggest highlight of the day was getting to talk to Elder Braden! We mailed off his t-shirts a little late so he hadn't gotten them yet but he should have by now - can't wait to hear if he likes them!