Christmas was wonderful! I have to say it's one of the best we have had since we lived here! Like I mentioned earlier, I did dinner on Christmas Eve to cut down on the hustle and bustle on Christmas Day. Dinner was great. We did our last Christmas Devotional (one out of 12 that my dear friend put together for me), at the dinner table, right before we blessed the food and ate. That set the tone for a nice reflective dinner.
Time in the Kitchen. (Much more relaxing than Christmas Day!)
I told the kids to get dressed in something nice! Boston came down in this Green shirt "because it's Christmas!"
Dad goofing off!
Dinner was the normal spread: stuffing, sweet potato casserole, shoepeg corn casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes, and a yummy honey glazed ham! We were too stuffed to eat dessert, which was pumpkin cheesecake and key lime pie. After dinner, we watched the Christmas Story, and let the kids sprinkle "reindeer food" out in the backyard.
They put out cookies for Santa, and Aubrie babysat the computer as she watched the website that tracks Santa. When he got to South America, she figured they better get to bed. The boys asked for some Benadryl so they could fall asleep. LOL
While the kids slept, I finished up some wrapping, and one of my Dad's presents (a multi-picture frame with several of our new pictures in it). I didn't realize how much little stuff I had that still needed wrapping. By the time I was done with everything, it was close to Midnight. I was excited, too! The great thing about kids is that they make Christmas morning magical and exciting all over again. I was also looking forward to my whole family family being there for Chirstmas morning: my Dad, Mom, Billy and Joe. We haven't all been together for Christmas Day in awhile! I took an Ambein!:)
I didn't wake up once, until Aubrie was at my bedside at 7:10 saying, "Can we go downstairs now?" We gathered the kids on our bed and read The Christmas Sweater before we headed down to open gifts.
This year Sophia got a Dora Bike, Ethan got a DS, and Aubrie and Boston got an Ipod touch, from Santa. Aubrie and Boston got a lot of clothes from Tilly's and Ethan got a lot of random toys and such. Sophia got tonz of Dora Stuff. She LOVED opening gifts. She loved unwrapping them, and squealed and hugged each one. It was so fun to see her get so excited. I think she was the most excited out of any of my kids, EVER! Luckily we had enough gifts, for her to open, to keep her occupied while everyone else opened theirs. Ben got me some beautiful church pictures, perfume, a Nano, and a Bike!
Think she likes the bike?
Ethan was busy the beginning of the month wrapping up things from his room and putting them under the tree. Here are the treasures he wrapped up for Ben:2 Pokeman cards, 2 bouncy balls, 2 magnets, and a baseball card! So sweet!
Boston thanking Grandpa for his purple shoes!
Ethan's Sunglasses from Aubrie
Ben broke my old Sonicare toothbrush trying to fix it, so I got this for Christmas!
Mom likes her Mother/Daughter Day out coupon!
I saw, and fell i love with this picture while I was Christmas shopping at the Bookstore. Ben had no idea I liked this! It was a nice surprise!
Can't have a 2009 Christmas without a Zhu Zhu pet!
Putting those family pictures to good use already!
The old, "wrap a box within, a box" trick from my Mom. Each kid was happy to find money in their last box!
The kids showing their appreciation for Joe's gift. He bought them the Super Mario for the Wii, that up to four players can play at once! It's super fun!
Boston happy to get his grey skinny jeans. They actually look great on him, because he is skinny!
One of many dress up costumes!
The jacket Aubrie wanted. I tricked her into thinking I didn't get it. It's so soft!!!! I wish they had one in my size!
Boston kept asking for an exercise ball for school. Apparently that is the new thing, kids sitting on them instead of in a chair. It's so funny to me that he was so super excited about this!
The aftermath!
The fashion show!
After gift opening, which lasted for 2 hours (we are slow because we open one gift at a time), we made a big breakfast: waffles, the best buttermilk syrup, strawberries, whipped cream, bacon and sausage.
After breakfast, and cleaning up a bit, I got a chance to use my bike! We took a family ride around our neighborhood, and through to another neighborhood over by the church. Boston said, "Mom, can we ride to the church and say a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for this wonderful morning". How could I say no to that? When we all got there, Boston got off his bike ready to say a prayer. I wasn't sure if he was serious until then. He started his prayer with, "we are grateful for this wonderful opportunity we have to take this fun family bike ride". Sometimes I wonder if there is an adult living in his little body. I really did love the bike ride. Its so fun spending time with the kids, and getting exercise at the same time!
After the bike ride, we headed over to a nearby rehabilitation center managed by someone that is in our Ward. Last week I took the kids to the dollar store to pick out gifts for the elderly. The picked out perfumes, colognes, scarves, candies, and lotions. They all helped to wrap them. When we got there to pass them out, the boys were a little timid, especially Ethan. By the time we were wrapping things up, they were fighting over who got to give the next gift. Even Sophia loved giving them out. She gave one lady three gifts before we had noticed. Boston and Aubrie were even striking up conversations with some of the more lucid ones. It was interesting to see the different reactions. Some were excited. Some were surprised that a stranger would give them something. Some took them, but waited till we walked away and thought we weren't looking, before they opened them. A few of them refused. Some of them thought the kids were trying to give them their gifts. Boston told one of the guys, "No, this is for you. My Mom and Dad told us to give these to the old people". LOL I think it gave the kids some great perspective.
Later that evening, we decided to continue our tradition from last year, and so we stopped at Panda Express so we could have Chinese for Christmas dinner. The rest of our evening was spent chilling over a new puzzle and watching movies. It was a great day!!! I'm definitely thinking these new traditions are going to be around for a LONG time! A day with less business, and more time serving and spending time together!
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