Our Christmas

This year we hosted Christmas Eve at our house since it was going to just be our small family plus my parents and brother, Kirk. We can't fit too many more in our tiny living room so it was perfect. Steve LOVES taking charge of the "program" and he did a good job of keeping us all entertained with games and stories and even the "Nativity" movie. Here is how it all happened that evening:

1. The guests arrived and we ate dinner (forgot to take pictures of our meal).
2. We gathered in the living room for the program. We played the "Left/Right" game where we each had a gift and had to pass it either right or left whenever we heard the words right or left in the story. The story was a version of the nativity story that Steve found online with the words left and right added in strategically. We all ended up with gifts we loved in the end and it was a fun variation to simply reading from Luke as we always have done in the past.
3. Brayden kept us all entertained throughout the night as well. He was so exhausted after his bath, he fell asleep in Steve's arms as he was being dried off in the towel. Too bad we had to wake him to get him dressed.
4. Both boys provided us with well played Christmas music for the program.
5. We enjoyed peppermint ice cream for a sweet treat.
6. The kids took some time to prepare for Santa's visit by sprinkling reindeer dust on the lawn and setting out cookies and milk.
7. We read "The Night Before Christmas" right before bed.

It was one of our most relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Eve's to date!

CHRISTMAS MORNING 2009-

Grandpa Bevan told the boys about a Christmas his dad had one year when all he got was a lump of coal from Santa. Upon hearing this, the boys voiced their worries and concern a time or two before their heads hit their pillows on Christmas Eve. We couldn't guarantee that the same thing wouldn't happen to them, even though we were certain they had more GOOD behavior days than BAD. They both said extra FERVENT prayers for sure that night and we tucked them in with our fingers crossed.

ALAS! SANTA DID COME!

You could definitely see the look of relief on their faces Christmas Morning, when they saw that Santa had indeed left presents for them! And WOW, he really left a pricey loot this year. The boys scored new BIKES and a Wii gaming system! Lewis kept saying, "I can't believe we got BOTH!"

Conner admitted that he didn't get EVERYTHING he had asked for on his list, but he said, he got the two best things he asked for. He vowed to be a perfect saint ALL YEAR next year to see if that will help him get his ENTIRE wish list fulfilled. We shall see.

Brayden actually slept THROUGH the first part of our Christmas Morning, with the boys excitedly unwrapping their gifts and taking their new bikes for a spin in the FRIGID temperatures. But as soon as we heard him, we all went in to get him. I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven with all of the attention that was being paid to him! The boys were tremendously cute with helping him open his presents. As expected, Brayden enjoyed eating the wrapping paper and boxes more than his new toys!

CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST/DAY-

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to visit Grandma's house on Christmas morning. She prepares the greatest breakfast of crepes with strawberries and whipped cream, sausage, bacon and orange juice! It is just perfection! This year, Lewis told Grandma that this breakfast is BETTER than going to Denny's (which is saying a LOT for this picky eater who happens to love Denny's)!

Usually, we go to Grandma's, eat and exchange family gifts, play for a little bit, and then head home to get ready for the day, visit Steve's family and sort of clean up Christmas a bit. Not this year. Steve's family wasn't around this year so we stayed at Grandma's almost the entire day, only leaving because Brayden had a massive "blow out" and I didn't have a change of clothes for him. So, around 3:00, we left for home, cleaned up a bit (I took a nap-thanks Steve) and then at around 4:30, we went back to Grandma's for more yummy food!

We ate Christmas dinner and then played games and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before heading back home again around 8:00.

It was such a RELAXING and low-stress day. Thanks goodness, since the days leading up to it were anything BUT stress-free!

Here's hoping your Christmases were just as relaxing and fun!