Saturday morning last week, Britt and I were snuggled sound in our beds, with visions of Santa dancing in our heads. We imagined the kids would be up eventually, but with their vacation from school officially begun, we figured we had time to enjoy the calm (unlike typical Christmas mornings, where the kids are up long before we are ready, and we usually have to make them wait to open presents). Well, our youngest child had visions of a gift she wanted to make for a friend, so she popped up bright and early to head downstairs for supplies. She didn't make it past the living room, though. "What the . . .!" could be heard, and then little running feet and an exclamation, "Santa came!"
Not long after that, she was in our room, asking if she could wake everyone up. Just so you know, it wasn't terribly early; just a little sooner than we had expected. Everyone was roused, situated and then the systematic present-opening began, youngest to oldest of course.
After the boys' late night X-Box adventures, they couldn't keep their eyes open, even for an early Christmas
One of the first things the girls saw were the new hair bows, thanks to our sweet friend Amy Bartlett. We miss you, Amy! I hope Kyle is having tons of fun in boy scouts.
Just not exciting enough
stocking stuffer surprises
Olivia got just what she wanted: a laptop
Rachel wanted a pink guitar
Tyler didn't ask for anything, but she got a Karaoke machine (By the way, yes, that is California Girls on the screen. I already didn't like the song, but now that I have seen all the lyrics, I hate it! She will not be singing that one again)
new Christmas dresses
Rachel's hair bow matches hers
Tyler loves it! It is a little more grown-up style
We were all done opening presents, and just enjoying our morning together when one more present showed up at our house. This was the first time we met Diesel, our new puppy!
Yay for early Christmas!
It was such a fun day. I am so glad I didn't try to do all that Sunday morning--or force them to wait until after church. That would have made for a miserable Christmas morning. We just took the whole day easy, and then got ready for Christmas Eve dinner. My family was coming, those who were able to come, anyway: my mom and dad, Worthy and his family, Kd and her family, Chrislynn and her family, and my Aunt Nancy, who was coming down with Chrislynn's family.
We cleaned up the Christmas mess and gathered all the stockings, so we could put them back up with the other decorations. I was gathering stockings, and I said, "Wait, which one am I missing? Oh, it's mine." So, I walked over to where my stocking was laid out and I noticed something in it that I was pretty sure "Santa" had not left for me. Britt and I had already decided we weren't giving each other gifts, because he got his new snowmobile and I got a camera and an iPad already. But there was a card in my stocking, describing airfare for two to Hawaii January 13. Merry Christmas to me!
Poor Britt! It was probably 2:00 in the afternoon before I even thought about my stocking. It must have been driving him crazy all day, waiting for me to see that.
All in all, it was a good Christmas Eve day. We really enjoyed a simple Christmas. I think the highlight for me was getting to watch the kids open the presents they had gotten for each other. This year we let the kids draw names, and then they decided they wanted to keep it a secret who they were buying for. It was very cute to watch them try to figure out what to buy for the person whose name they drew. I love it when a holiday brings us closer together. Merry Christmas Eve!
No comments:
Post a Comment