Another blessed Christmas in the books. Thankfully, everyone was mostly healthy this year! Aside from me having a sore throat and eventually losing my voice, everyone was well, unlike
last year! We were missing lots of family this year, but are thankful to have gotten to celebrate with some. Heidi/Kimball/Charlotte came over for Christmas Eve lunch; my brother (in from Dallas) and parents (in from AZ) came later that day for church, dinner, and some presents...they slept over and spent Christmas Day with us as well; Aunt Deb also joined us for dinner.
Some of the touches-of-Christmas around our home..
 |
| This guy is a new addition this year. Caleb learned about The Nutcracker in music class at school, and Meredith and I were able to attend a local performance a few weeks ago; both kids enjoyed the music/story, so I couldn't pass this up, especially since he was discounted due to a piece missing from the top of his hat! The kids named him Peanut. :) |
 |
| Extra ornaments = perfect tea cup fillers... |
 |
| Our Countdown to Christmas...one of several things we do each year to keep our hearts and minds focused on why and WHO we celebrate. Love seeing the greater understanding the kids have year after year. |
 |
| Only 1 more day, yay! |
 |
| Norah especially loved to play with our LP nativity this year! |
 |
| Gingerbread houses the kids made at a neighbor's earlier this week. |
 |
| Fun table cloth to keep the kiddos busy at times when such a thing was needed. ;) |
 |
| Christmas Eve lunch. |
Love these next pictures, despite their blurriness. Biggest cousin and littlest cousin.
 |
| Johnsons and Suens. |
I snapped these pictures before heading to church on Christmas Eve. I absolutely love the ones of Caleb kissing Meredith....I didn't tell him to do that, he just did. So sweet.
 |
| Thanks to the grandparents and Uncle Warren over in the corner making them laugh/smile! |
A few presents on Christmas Eve (which included the traditional Christmas jammies that they are wearing!)...
Christmas Morning!
 |
| Mimicking some of the karate moves the gingerbread on his jammies are doing... |
 |
| Pre-breakfast game of UNO..the first of maaaaannnnnyyyy UNO games that day! |
 |
| The first of maaaannnnnnyyyyy chess games played that day. As a side note, Caleb taught me to play this morning (I had never played before), and he beat me. I'm equally proud of him and embarrassed for me. |
 |
| Possibly the longest UNO game that day...Uncle Warren was a trooper....pretty sure it lasted almost an hour! |
 |
| As if they didn't have enough new toys/games, they requested cloud dough in this big box. |
 |
|
|
| Showing off some her new goods! |
|
|
I do love the season of Christmas...lots of planning and decorating, special gifts and treats, parties, time with family, anticipation, and excitement. It's always a little bittersweet when it's over. I'm more than ready to get our pretty-much-dead Christmas tree out of our living room; but after such a full and celebratory season of the year, it's always a bit hard to move into "normal" life!
But, as I told Meredith last night as she was saddened about Christmas being over, we still have reason to celebrate! Jesus is still alive and here with us! Yes, we make a huge deal about celebrating His birth, and we will make another huge deal about celebrating his death and resurrection in a few months from now; however each day is a reason to celebrate because once we have asked Jesus to live on the inside of our hearts, He's with us all year long. Not just at Christmas. Praise the Lord for that!
Here's a fun song with that reminder...So,
Happy Day After Christmas to you! We hope that even though Christmas is over, you seek and know the presence of the Lord in your heats and your homes.
