The Best Christmas EVER!

     This was a Christmas different than years past because we went to Utah...never done that before! We spent Christmas with the Brownlows (you'll see why later in this post) instead of staying home. We drove over on Christmas Eve so we could get there in time to:
           *Open our new Christmas PJ's (I got them in Vegas at M&M World this year)

                           
          *Make peanut butter cookies for Santa (they had PB cups in them this year)

         *Hang the Santa key so he could get in their house (we don't have to hang it at our house anymore because we have a chimney, but we brought it for their house because they don't)

         *Put the girls to bed and "hang" the stockings for Santa to come

Notice the little furry present waiting for them to open....

...here's a close up!! 

      The girls had no idea but we came to Utah because we got them a PUPPY!! Crazy, I know, with a new baby on the way, but we just couldn't resist! They have been talking about wanting a dog nonstop since we had to put Layla down last year. Chad is missing his hunting buddy and also doesn't want this new baby to be raised without a dog. So we got one! It was a great surprise!!

The girls walking in 

Opening the box!!

They couldn't believe it! A real live puppy!! 

They weren't too interested in the rest of their gifts (plus this one required most of their attention!)

      I have to mention the pickle gift this year too. Every year we hide the "pickle" somewhere on the tree and whoever finds it gets an extra present. Carli has won it every year BUT this year it was hard to find! Mollie and Regan recruited some help to get them up near the top and for the first time ever...Regan found it!

      One pretty excited girl! She got her very own gift card to spend at Target :)

       PUPPY INFO: He is a wire-haired pointing Griffon. Chad wanted a dog that was good in the field, and I wanted a good family dog. Chad did a ton of research and found this breed. They are supposed to be super intense in the field, but great with families (and fairly calm too!) There are only a  handful of breeders so it was really hard to find an available puppy! Chad had to be interviewed by the breeder and sign a contract (crazy!) before they would even sell him to us!! We had to give the breeder his registered name, but wanted to have the girls help pick his call name after they knew about him. His name is Griffin, short for Gryffindor :) Chad likes to call him Griffin-dog! He has been a great addition to our family, and the girls are stepping up and taking an active role in taking care of him.

Griffin spent most of his time with the wrapping paper. As a typical puppy, he loved all the noise it made!

     This was a great Christmas! In fact, on the way home, the girls said, "This is the best Christmas EVER!!" We told them it was a great year and next year will be too because we will have a new baby brother to celebrate his first Christmas with! So many new exciting memories to make!! Later that night, Chad and I agreed...it really was one of the best Christmases ever :)