Christmas

What a great year! I entered the month of December with high hopes and other than a frigid parade night, most of my expectations were met! We spent time making cookies, singing songs, reading books, making crafts and building memories.

I have to tell you that we had one little hiccup, our little Matty dog was missing for 10 days and she is back with us now and I would like to forget the whole event ever took place.

Christmas Eve - We got up and had a nice breakfast. I cleaned the house up a little and then the neighbors came over and we made cookies for Santa. We decided on peppermint thumbprints because Santa like candy canes! There were 7 kids ages 3 - 9 making the cookies and it was just adorable! After we made the cookies our friends left and we let the kids open the Christmas Eve family gift. What was it you ask??? Connect 4!!!! Of course it turned into a big family competition! I really don't want to brag but I totally rock at it and took Bryan down! The kids had a great time sitting by the fire and taking turns, it was beautiful!!! My brother and his fiance arrived just in time for dinner. We had a nice meal and really enjoyed getting to know her. We finished dinner and got all the kids ready for church. We headed out the door and gave Wesley a quick reminder that the candle flame does not go anywhere near the head! (if you are unaware of the significance, post a comment and I'll tell ya!) We had a lovely time at church and remembered the true "Reason for the Season" and felt the warmth of Christ's love for our family and mankind. We sang songs on the way home and it was another blessed moment in time! The kids flew out of the car and tore into the house to get ready for Santa. We put his cookies by the fire and they put on their Christmas jammies and headed off to bed. Bryan and I sat by the fire and talked and laughed until midnight preparing for Santa. It was a great day, one that I will cherish forever!

Christmas day - We made the kids promise to sleep in until 7am and when they woke up they were under strict orders to come to our room first! At 7am sharp we had the 3 older kids in our bed. We opened the door and let them run down the hallway and jump for joy - Santa came! Tyler was overjoyed to see that he had received a Wii! Wesley was happy to see his Iron Man costume but ecstatic Indiana Jones movie!!! Olyvia was thrilled to see her American Girl Doll that did indeed look just like her. The twins woke up shortly after and were excited, although I am not sure if they knew why they were so happy! My parents and my brother and his fiance came over and we all exchanged gifts. The twins opened one gift and decided they were done and just wanted to play with their new dinnerware. I have it on video but I am not sure when I will be able to post it! After all of the gifts were opened we got dressed and went to Fresno to my cousins house. We had a fabulous day! The kids were great! They played and laughed all afternoon, it was priceless! We had a great visit and enjoyed having more time to spend with my brother's fiance - she is great by the way!!! We headed for home a little after 5pm and got home at about 7pm. Just enough time to play with everything they got! We played for a couple of hours, again without a fight or a cry. It was a great and blessed holiday that I hope and pray is duplicated year after year!