Christmas dawned early for us with a visit from Shylah. We were thrilled to have her visit and spend a little time with us. We knew she wouldn't be able to come back for Christmas day so it gave us an opportunity to personally deliver her Christmas gifts to her.
You can tell, that the kids are absolutely delighted to have her here from the huge smiles on their faces and the big hugs she is flooded with. It was a wonderful day, and the perfect beginning to our Christmas celebration.
Christmas Eve we delivered our last box of cookies, enjoyed turkey dinner and then acted out the nativity story. The kids really enjoyed acting it out this year and added a few silly antics to their parts, but it was fun.
After we finished and put away the costumes, we each got to open a Christmas Eve gift of soft and cozy fleece pajama pants. These are everyone's favorites and they are perfect for the chilly winter nights.
We were all quite happy with what we got. It was a wonderful pre-Christmas celebration.
Christmas morning everyone awoke with eager anticipation. First they opened their stockings and then we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of waffles, whipped cream and strawberries and then we waited for Alisha to arrive. She had spent Christmas morning with Brandon and his family and was eager to show off some of the nice things she had received. She also came loaded with an very large and heavy gift for Myles.
Everyone is smiling as they anticipate opening their stockings...
Alisha's favorite gift (not counting Brandon's) was the scarf and hat Myles gave her. Of the two, she LOVED the hat!
Beth of course was thrilled to receive a book she had been wanting. Big smiles!
Breanna, who loves to cook, was thrilled with a cookbook which included cupcake liners. And let me just add that she has made us many tasty treats from that book!
Charity had an embroidery project she wanted to finish, so she was excited to receive a variety of colors of embroidery floss.
Dad loves popcorn, so he was tickled to pieces with his whirley-pop and popcorn buckets. Let me tell you, that it has been well used through out the year since then too!
Melodee was so excited to finally receive her pocket knife - exactly the kind she had wanted to get!
I received an art tool for encaustic wax. I wish life wasn't so busy, because I'd like to be able to do it more often!
Myles, being a teenage boy, is interested in building muscles so he was thrilled to discover a chin-up bar in one of his gifts.
Of course, thanks to Alisha, Myles got the largest gift this year. And if we were to measure weights, it would top all weight expectations! Inside this box was a punching bag and all the paraphernalia to go with it!
Naomi was also delighted by books, but she also found a good use for the now empty box that Myles punching bag came in.
Christmas was a fun family time. It was fun to share those moments together, strengthening family and enjoying our association with one another.
I love Christmas! I love the little gifts that the kids make for me from school. I also love the thought that is put into the gifts that are given by my grown children. Alisha gave me some beautiful things, but the gifts that surprised me the most, was the gifts Brandon sent down with her. He chose things that suit both Chad and I perfectly. I would have to say that he is either very observant or he had Alisha's help in choosing.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying one another's company. The kids put some of their toys away, and put others to use. To me there is no time quite like Christmas time. The whole day is filled with discovery and anticipation. With so many new gifts, it is hard to decide which to use first, and I love helping the kids figure their things out. Everyone is happy and that feeling of love emanates throughout the house. It is better that the fine smell of a turkey roasting. Christmas is love, felt, smelled, seen and heard. This is the influence of the Savior in our lives - may we seek to not only have it on Christmas day, but EVERY day of the year!
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