Christmas Day

After all the fun at home, we went to Grandma Great's house and ate breakfast.  When the kids were finished, we found them all lined up in front of the tree checking out the gifts.

Grandma Great gave all the kiddos gift cards to Build-a-Bear...we can't wait to go!

These kids love playing chase with Uncle Lee!

Next, we headed to Mimi and Poppa's house and started the celebration with an impromptu dance party!

Grace and Lily got each other a little gift...sweet girls!

Pawpaw thought he was Santa Claus...he gave all the kids two toys and pulled them out of a giant red bag.

They LOVED it!!!

Two of my favorite ladies!

These three!  I hope they are always friends!!!

Carter giving Charlie a thank you hug for his remote control car!

Our little artist got some cool colored pencils.

Love this girl too!

Our rockstar is expanding his repertiore...he now plays the drums!

Us. In our plaid.

We ended the celebration by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and eating Grace and Carter's yummy cake!

it's Christmas morning!!!

When everyone was awake, first we read the Christmas story.  Carter is either really bored or still waking up...I'm hoping it's the second one. Ha!  

Time to see what Santa brought!

Yay!  Grace got a Rainbow Loom just like she wanted!

Carter was a bit surprised to see a train table "with a clock" waiting for him!

After everything got checked out...it was time to start playing!

We were there too!

After playing with the toys that Santa brought, we exchanged gifts with each other.

There were lots of hugs and excitement both from the givers and the receivers!!!

Carter turned into a puppy (typical behavior for him) and opened this gift.

Carter Man (no longer a puppy) was so proud of his gift to Daddy!

LOVE them!

LOVE their excitement!

Then we had to pull them away from their new toys, get dressed, and head to our next two Christmases!

Christmas Eve/The Longest Day of My Life continues

The longest day of my life was about to come to an end.  But first we got to celebrate Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's!  

We ate a yummy Italian dinner.  The kids played with all the cool toys that Grandma and Grandpa gave them.  John taught them how to play Chutes and Ladders.

We hung out, played, laughed, & exchanged gifts.

He was sooo stinkin' cute!

She was so fun and sweet and excited.

These guys were kinda excited too!

Grace was so thankful for the dresses that Aunt Steph made for her and both her dolls!

This is the most handsome firefighter that I have ever seen!

Look who is not afraid of dogs anymore!  Grace and Molly are buds now!

It was time to give hugs and say goodbye.

Once we got home, the kiddos got to open one present.  I wonder what it will be???

Christmas jammies, of course!

Silly family picture in front of the tree...one of my favorite traditions! 

We left milk and cookies out for Santa.

And, grabbed some carrots for Santa's reindeer...

...took some more silly pics...

...and left them in the yard.

The kids got all tucked in the bed, but they weren't falling asleep anytime soon.

The. Longest. Day. of. My. Life.

(but, it was a great one!)

Christmas Eve/The Longest Day of My Life

The anticipation was killing us.  All of us.  I woke to the sounds of little feet running through the living room followed by laughter and excited voices.  I lay in bed still so that I can hear their conversations.  "Santa is coming tonight."  "Tomorrow is Jesus' birthday."  "We gotta make a birthday cake."  "Santa has reindeer and a sleigh." "Jingle will go home with Santa tonight."  "I'm gonna touch Jingle."  "Nooo!  DON'T touch him!"

Then the sprinting began.  And the bouncing.  And the flipping.  And the non stop talking.  They were so excited!!!  So in an effort to keep them busy and from destroying the house with all the flipping...

We wrapped gifts.

We did laundry.

We made treats.

We baked cookies.

We spoke in a British accent.

We dressed puppy and Taylor in Christmas clothes.

We colored.

We cleaned the living room.

Four times.

We danced like rockstars.

We reenacted the first Christmas.

We learned how to say Merry Christmas in Italian.

We watched Christmas movies.

We cleaned the kitchen.

Six times.

We cleaned bedrooms.

We played.

We made a birthday cake for Jesus.

And...it was only lunch time!!!

Merry Christmas!

Today our hearts rejoice in Him.

Today the light of His birth

thrills us with hope

and brings peace on earth.

Jesus, born on this day;

He is our Light and Salvation.

Jesus, born on this day;

He is the King of all nations.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

{2 Corinthians 9:15}

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as you celebrate our Savior's birth!