christmas time!!
we enjoyed a wonderful christmas this year and it was made especially great for several reasons:
- we have two healthy kiddos and another on the way!
-we got to spend quality time with family
-we were able to attend our new church's candlelight service
-and i didn't have to work on christmas eve *or* christmas day thanks to my new job at LCMC!
we celebrated in the usual fashion: christmas eve dinner and presents at my parents' house with a trip to church for the candlelight service. when it started to get late we put the younger kids to bed, since they open their presents first and had already finished that portion of the evening. of course, sam was ready for bed at her usual time, and put up no fuss whatsoever over being put to bed in the port-a-crib at mom's house. noah, my little night owl, stayed up with us (partially because we didn't want to fight to keep him in bed with all the excitement going on, and also because there was limited bed space between our kids and the proctor kiddos). what time did our sweet noah finally go to bed? it wasn't until we were home at our house and had laid him in his bed...around 1am! fortunately, he woke the next morning near usual time with a smile on his face and excitement about opening more presents :)
the proctor family
the childers family
mom & dad
our family...the most active ;)
the "original six" miller family members
the whole gang!
time to open presents, noah was pretty excited
getting out the "take-a-part roadster" with papa john
brie practices her camera skills
intermission while the kids are put to bed
christmas cookie time during the intermission
the childers kiddos get to go on a scavenger hunt
late night, and still helping open presents. noah helped grandma sharon and papa john with their gifts
christmas day was busy, but wonderful. we started the morning off eating breakfast, then opening presents from santa (just a few books and some pennies for noah -- yes, pennies! the only thing he asked for. he got about 25 of them to put in his piggy bank), and then opening the gifts from the family in ohio. it was laid back and a lot of fun to see the kids run around and open presents.
then we quickly had to clean up and start getting ready for everyone to come over -- we hosted christmas for my family and my mom's side of the family, so we ended up with about 30 people here! everyone seemed to have a great time, and the weather was nice enough that the kids even got to spend some time at the park and playing with our new basketball hoop outside (thanks, papa king!). it was a great day, and i'm so thankful that we are so blessed with family and the ability to host such a meaningful holiday.
merry christmas!!!
noah shows off the play kitchen from papa king
our (now) annual pajama picture in front of the tree before we open presents
noah was practically a pro at opening gifts this year
after being gone for so long on christmas eve, lexi was just glad we were home and that she could be near the action
my little bookworm -- she stopped opening presents to go and start reading some books :)
poor, sweet dog. completely content to be snuggled up near us, even if she had wrapping paper draped over her
time for the extended family!
papa john and sam watch some "how the grinch stole christmas" while matt, mom & i get things ready for the guests
there was *plenty* of food
we watched "elf" after eating lunch because some people had never seen it, and it's been decided it's a christmas classic, for sure!
matt snuck away to read some of his "game of thrones" book -- a christmas gift from his mom. poor guy was too tired to really enjoy it :)
cousins everywhere!
the childers kiddos watch elf
maddie, noah, and brie play upstairs
here are some pictures of the kids actually playing with their christmas gifts:
sam shows off the new piggy bank, with a skillet from the new kitchen nearby
noah has loved his train extension -- you can see his train tracks have become much more involved! (ps - matt helped a little with this one) ;)
