Can you believe Christmas came and went just like that and now we're staring oh nine right in the face? Wow. I find it so refreshing to have a whole year full of newness and possibilities ahead. An untouched canvas ready to splatter new experiences and memories across.
But for now, I still have Christmas to discuss. Sadly, our photo taking was pretty sporadic. We took a few Christmas morning and a few at the N Christmas Eve party. So enjoy what I have, and note to self: You can never have too many pictures. LEARN this, self.
Another less fuzzy picture of the tree:
Note: The man of the house and I woke up at 5:45 to open gifts on Christmas. Yes. In the MORNING. Are we crazy? Nope. Just really excited to open gifts. Hence the slightly disheveled look in the next few pics.
Jen and her Santa present pile Christmas morning:
Deke and his Santa present pile:
Sporting some new goods:
(some of) The N women putting the finishing touches on the Christmas Eve feast. From back to front: Mwah, Katie, Cami, Mom.
My dad bought this HUGE stuffed bear for the grandkids this year. It's pretty, well, huge. But it serves it's purpose well - the grandkids absolutely love it. The next picture cracks me up. I told Kayla and Trev to smile but Trev couldn't peel his eyes away from the movie Elf. Hence, the cheesy "lookaway" smile.
Because the attention span of those under the age of 4 sometimes aren't the longest, our family opted for a picture book reading of the nativity instead of the typical Luke 2 version. Trev and Russ acted out the entire story while Grandpa read it. It was... entertaining to say the least. Trev and Russ acting as Samuel the Lamanite: (right before Grandpa forgot that Samuel didn't actually get hit and pelted them with arrows. aka starbursts)
(my red eye corrector turned Trev's eye green! what the? couldn't figure out how to fix it)
The present Paul gave to Deke. Is this awesome wrapping or what? (and no.. it's not a golf club. Our family has a $5-$10 dollar limit for our gift exchange, so things get pretty creative.)
We had a wonderful time with the H clan Christmas day too, but I wish I had pictures of it all. We felt so blessed by both of our families and are so grateful for each of their examples. When it comes down to it, Christmas isn't about the gifts. As the Grinch would say:
"It [comes] without ribbons. It [comes] without tags. It [comes] without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"
I hope all of your Christmases were filled with "more" than just "packages, boxes, or bags" and were filled with what Christmas is all about: family, love, and the Savior.
Merry Christmas!
