Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  With Christmas Eve on a Saturday, I knew I'd be in for "When do we go to Grandma's" and "Is it time yet?" first thing in the morning, so I had a plan to keep my bigger boys occupied.  I bought two gingerbread house kits (on sale for $2.48 at Winco).  I made the boys get ready first, and then we went to work.  These kits were great!  I couldn't buy the candy for that price, and they come with everything, including pre-made frosting and a tray to build it on. 

 We were busy at work.  I had to use a few graham crackers to assemble a house for Greyson.  He was not going to be left out!  He ate most of it before it ever got together, but it was fun for him. 

These are the finished products.  Chad made his name on his roof with Christmas lights, and they both turned out cute! 

 We met up at my parents house at 3.  All of my siblings were able to come this year, and we had a wonderful dinner together.  It has been tradition my entire life to have ham, cheesy potatoes, and green bean casserole.  It wouldn't be Christmas Eve if it were anything else. 

After dinner, we played several games and opened a few gifts. 

Chad is absent from all of these photos because he was off playing with his cousin, Carter. 

Our fun cousin, Gavin, made each of his cousins one of these fleece hats, and you can tell from the expression on their faces that they loved them!  Thanks, Gavin! 

And of course, we had grandpa time.  The boys always love to be with grandpa.  When the festivities were over, we headed out to look at some lights.  I always love to see a good light display, and we found a few that were beautiful. 

 Christmas morning was a little different this year.  Because our preschool is in the family room where we usually do Christmas, we had to shake things up a bit.  Chad was dead set on the stockings staying by the fireplace, so Santa visited us downstairs, and we did our gifts upstairs.  The boys always unwrap matching jammies on Christmas eve, and here they are, discovering what treasures Santa brought them. 

Greyson looks WAY too grown up in this picture.  He has just loved this little ride-on toy Santa brought him.   

After peeking in our stockings, we had to pause to get ready for church.  Our meetings are at 9am, and we had to boogie to be ready on time.  We only barely made it.  The meeting was beautiful, filled with music and testimony of Christ. 

After the meeting, we headed back home to enjoy the day together.  We took our time to unwrap our gifts to each other. 

It was fun to see how excited the boys were about the gifts they gave. 

Chad received his beloved scooter from Santa. 

 We have been so blessed.  My parents and my grandma joined us for dinner.  And we enjoyed visiting and playing a few more games together. 

To me, that's what Christmas time if for-time together.  It was sad for us to send Dave off to work today, but we will enjoy a few more calm evenings together before the new year.  I hope each of you are enjoying your holidays!