Christmas!!!!! 2009

I love Christmas!!! I really do. I love the shopping, the wrapping, the crowds, the food, the parties--I love it all! Being 8 1/2 months pregnant slowed me down a bit this year, but I still loved every minute preparing for Christmas morning!
On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner with some friends and then came home to do our traditional things. We started with letting the kids exchange gifts they have picked out for each other and for Kris and I. Their school has a Christmas store that lets the kids bring in money and pick out gifts for people on their list. The kids love picking things out for everyone. It is so sweet to picture them choosing carefully the item they think another would like. After they exchange their gifts we let the kids pick out which person in the Christmas story they would like to be. Then they gather parts to their costume. This year Samantha was Mary, Mariah was the angel, Joshua was a Shepperd, Gabriella was the wise woman, Kris was Joseph and I was the star. We read the Bible and let the kids act out the story, it is so sweet.

After the story we let the kids open their pajamas from Mom and Dad. They race to get changed and ready for bed and can't get into bed fast enough! They were in bed and all asleep by about 8:30. This year we told them they needed to try to stay in bed until 5:00 am. At 5:05 they were in our room waking us up:)

The kids waited patiently for Kris and I to get up and then we went to the living room. We tried to have them take turns, but didn't want to stop their excitement. Gabriella hugged everyone of her gifts. After the kids had opened all their gifts we told them to sit in front of the tree with their eyes closed. Kris and I then went downstairs and got their gift from us. Two baby bunnies! When the kids saw them they could not believe it. I do not care for pets and it was very hard for me to get them, but the kids have asked for so long and the bunnies were so cute it was just too hard for me to resist. I have since discovered I am allergic and so I have to keep my distance, but the kids are being very good about caring for them. I keep warning them that if they do not take care of them I will find them a nice home in the trees behind our house:)


While I was taking a nap Gabriella found some chocolate coins and discovered that if she squeezed them in her hands enough they became very melted. Apparently she thought the melted chocolate would make a good moisturizer. Gross. So where was Kris during all this? He was sitting 2 feet away from her playing Xbox with Joshua. I am sure I don't need to say anymore about that:)
I guess we finally wore Gabriella out and she crashed in the middle of all the chaos! What a fun day! Did I mention how much I love Christmas!!!