Thursday, December 25, 2008

Our Christmas, Part #1

Our Christmas Eve service went well:) My two youngest were a bit hyper so they didn't say as quiet as usual... but it was nice to sing Christmas hymns together, be with church members and hear a message that brought our hearts to the reasons for Christmas... our Savior's birth!

We had over 15 church members and family come back to our house for some refreshments... it was nice to have the cozy fellowship at the house and be able to serve some of the members who do SOOO much for us throughout the year:) I was soo thankful that we had so many... but they still left me with tons of leftovers;)

One of the best results of having the refreshments after the service was that my house was in GREAT condition for having family over Christmas Morning:) LOL

This morning I woke a little after 7:30 to hear Anna yawn and then say quietly to herself... "it's Christmas".
Then she called down to the bottom bunk "Hey, Christopher, it's Christmas morning!"

Then I heard Christopher respond, "Christmas morning?.... Christmas morning!"

Christopher came charging into our room and stood on Brian' side of the bed and announced, "It's Christmas morning!" And we asked, " So??"

He responded, "We can go open presents!" LOL

They really had been good about NOT opening the presents that have been under the tree since it went up. I've been very thankful that they've been soo good with them and I haven't had to keep them out-of-sight!

We did finally get to put Baby Jesus on our advent calendar. The kids had been waiting for the last day! I was thankful for our reminder (even though it was quick and simple) of what we were celebrating!

My parents, brother, sister and brother-in-law came in about 9ish and they started on our family's traditional family breakfast..... it's called cripe... like almost crepe. Anyway, it's like a thick funnel cake that we pour maple syrup and brown sugar over.... healthy... ha ha haa But the funny thing is that we all look forward to the ONE morning of the year when we have it, even my other brother who wasn't able to make it today was missing the cripe:)


After breakfast we opened presents, we headed outside to play with some big "gifts" that had been given to us from some neighbors. They passed down their powered John Deere Gator, their JD backhoe peddle bike, another John Deere tricycle and a bike with training wheels. All of the items were in GREAT condition... especially for the price... FREE!! And the kids LOVED, LOVED, LOVED them... we were outside for an hour and a half!!

Thanks for thinking of us, Sweet Neighbors!!

As the ladies prepared dinner, the guys and the kids watched a video... to give the kids some down time:) And then we ate again!

One of the most special parts of Christmas for me is the time with family all together. I see my parents (when they're around) on occassion. My younger brother has come to visit during a college break once or twice. My sister and her husband try to visit on their day off one every couple of months. But it's nice to have everyone over at the same time.... it's crowded. It can get a little loud. But we're family! So it was nice to have (almost) everyone together... even if it was for a couple of hours:)

Every left by about 6ish and then we started getting the house together for the new crew coming in tomorrow:) We are soo excited to be having Brian's parents, his brother and sister-in-law and Bea's momma coming for the day!

We hope you had a Blessed Christmas, too!!!

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