Christmas Eve...

Christmas as whole this year was really nice. My parents didn't have cable (no sports on TV) and we had constant snow fall and cold enough weather to keep it around, so there was only one vehicle that could venture out for errands. Everyone was here except for Jeff's family (we really missed them) so we really got to enjoy lots of Wii playing, game playing, and just being together. I loved the slow pace of it all.

Christmas Eve was nice. We had a nice dinner of various soups and then the kids acted out the Nativity. We just read from the Bible about Jesus' birth and the kids act it out and we sing Christmas carols as we read. We usually have lots of girls who want to be Mary, but this year, there were two angels and two Mary's...only one angel changed her mind. Then we had little Mason to pose as baby Jesus for a minute. Alice picked all these sparkly fabrics and I think she wound up looking like she was ready for a role in a Baliwood movie. Then we played Santa BINGO and put the excited little ones to bed.

That's when Braden and I got to work assembling Alice's biggest Christmas present, a play kitchen. All she wanted was a "red kitchen" and thank goodness for Costco for having one! It was no easy task and took us like two hours or more to complete, but it was all worth it. There's something really special about being a parent at Christmas, and I was just filled with excitement as I wrestled with the complicated instructions and dozens of different sized screws. It is so worth it!

With so many families celebrating together, and gifts from both sides all in one place, it got a little busy around the Christmas tree to say the least. What a blessed bunch of people we are.

This is what Santa left for Ruby. When Ruby talked to Santa, the only thing she asked for was the Hannah Montana movie. That's it. That's all she wanted. I'm not opposed to Hannah's music or her performances for a young girl, but Ruby is way too young for the actual Hannah Montana show. Let's just say she doesn't need any encouragement in the boy crazy department. Sooooo I talked to Ruby a lot about how the movie was actually just Hannah on stage and in concert. I had recorded the movie when it aired on TV, and she didn't pay attention for five minutes, so I knew she didn't really want the movie. So she wound up asking for the dreaded Hannah Montana shirt, and Santa went with it. He also got her a HM Barbie and nightgown, a Hopscotch game and an 18" doll that she fell in love with when I took her shopping for other family members. He of course left a nice stocking as well.

Alice got a like doll, a Hungry Hippo game and a Tinkerbell nightgown along with her stocking. I had to email Santa to let him know that I was buying her the red kitchen she wanted. At our house, Santa does NOT get all the credit!