Christmas Eve was such a sweet day this year. My husband was fighting a cold, but otherwise we were all well. What a gift! After the big, late party at our house the night before, I was a little tired. It seems like when I am tired, the house is quieter. My family seems to feed off of my energy, I think. We started the day at my parents' house to celebrate and exchange gifts with my brother's family and my parent's. My Mom always has us over for breakfast in our pajamas. So the morning of this party, the kids always get a new pair of pjs. Mom cooks a big meal and the kids are always really excited to see their cousins.
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| Girl cousins |
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| Poppy gave Jackson a "modern" record player. He loaned his records to Jackson last summer. This will be a lot of fun! |
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| Oooo, little does Lydie know she is going to get Saige's horse, as well. |
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| Jackson had just gotten a North Face jacket the night before and Ross was the first to compliment it that morning. And then...Ross got one, as well. Handsome! |
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| Oh the hours he will spend... |
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| She just opened the horse like Anna's. Oh the joy! |
I usually do not record here what the children get for Christmas. It seems silly and insignificant. But I think it will be fun to see what they loved in the years to come. So, this year Lydie got American Girl stuff and Lego Friends sets. These are her favorite things right now! Joshua got a Creator lego set and a National Geographic robot rover. He is still building! And Jackson got a war video game, Rock Band, the record player, and money. Perfect for our teenager!
After enjoying all of our gifts, physically and otherwise, we let the kids play for a while. Rick had an emergency at work and had to leave, so we came on home. The kids played with their toys quietly all afternoon. I spent several hours enjoying Legos with Lydia Joy. Then we made peanut butter cookies and watched It's a Wonderful Life. That lead to questions about suicide and other matters which were unexpected! Wow, you never know when those big discussions will pop up!
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| Legos in her playroom |
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| Licking the spoon during the movie |
Our new church had a candlelight service at 5:00. This service is my favorite event at Christmas time! We enjoyed beautiful music and candlelight, along with a sweet message of hope. Some dear friends of ours visited our church for the first time, which was a pleasant surprise! Afterwards, we ended up at a Chinese restaurant. Since we had hosted the night before, I did not have anything planned for dinner!
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| After church, at dinner |
The children were so excited this year for Christmas morning! Andy read Luke 2 and we snuggled them in bed. After MUCH wrapping of presents and preparation, we were ready for bed, too! It was a wonderful, peaceful day. We did not do all of our traditions this year. But, it was so good! I am so thankful!
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Love these two sweet boys!
"There has been only one Christmas. The rest are anniversaries."
W.J. Cameron |
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