Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with just our family this year.  We love being with our extended family, but I loved being able to focus on my kids and Bob this Christmas. We started out Christmas Eve at the Deans' house.  We are so grateful for such great friends.  Casey called it a soul family once.  The Deans are definitely our soul family. We had a great, big dinner with them, then we acted out the Nativity. And played a white elephant game for the kids.  They really didn't grasp the whole trading thing with the game (no one could imagine giving up the great gift they just opened), so they just opened their gifts and then everyone played for a while and we went home early so Santa could come.  

 

When we got home the kids opened their sibling gifts.  This year the kids decided to buy gifts for each other with their own money instead of making things like last year.  They were really excited to see each other open the gifts they picked out.

Christmas morning started at 6:30.  We talked Danny down from 5:30.   Danny got the BMX bike he's been dying for.  His bike broke a month ago and he's been riding riding his scooter to school, so the bike was very needed.  The three oldest got new scooters.  Aaron got a big remote control car.  The girls got some barbies and dolls (I was so excited Rachel asked for these this year) and Rachel got some craft things.  Santa brought the girls a big barbie playhouse and the boys got a big arcade-type basketball game. Bob got me a spin bike so I don't always have to go to the gym and I got him a vitamix.