I have been working on this post for quite some time!! I know Christmas has been over for almost a month but this is my "scrapbook" so I still wanted to post some memories.
Christmas at Grandpa & Grandma's:
We went to spend the night at Grandpa Rick & Grandma Leeanne's house & opened presents the next morning. The girls big surprise was a puppet theater. Grace was very excited as she is very into puppets and pretend play. Grace helped pass out the presents & Faith even showed interest in opening her own gifts. Then we went to Jeremy's grandparents house for a huge meal & white elephant exchange. I actually got something good-a Christmas card holder. Jeremy won an old lamp (dust included!). But he snuck it in Aunt Shawn's van so we didn't get to put that one up at our house.
Christmas Eve:
On Christmas Eve we went to our church and then arrived at Bowen just in time for the end of the service at my home church. Jeremy and I make this a priority every year. My home church has a tradition of taking communion as a family on Christmas Eve. It is one of my favorite moments each year. Our entire family on my mom's side takes communion together. It is a really awesome visual reminder of my grandparent's legacy of faith. It is a moment Jeremy and I are dreaming about for our family someday. After that we headed to my parent's house for one of my favorite meals of the year. It is entirely finger foods & really yummy. We always play Bingo instead of doing a gift exchange. This was the first year Grace was interested in participating. She actually enjoyed marking her card and picking out prizes. She still says, "I said BINGO for this," when we use something she won as a prize. We also got to meet the newest member of the family, baby Elise.
Christmas Morning:
It was really fun waking up at home with our girls for Christmas morning. Grace came in our room to wake us up. But still didn't really "get" Christmas morning. She wanted to know when she could see Santa. We go pretty simple on gifts since we are VERY blessed with generous grandparents. Grace and Faith got a tool bench (Grace likes to hammer my walls-so I thought it was time she had her own tools!), a set of alphabet letters for the fridge, & play dough. I opened up my first official Christmas gift from Grace jingle bells. Grace also picked out a purple ball for her sister. Jeremy & I had exchanged our gifts to each earlier because we wanted some "us" time. Jeremy totally surprised me with this awesome frame. I LOVE it!
Christmas Day:
We headed to my grandma's house for brunch & presents. It was fun spending time with family, but different without my grandpa there. I think we all just keep waiting for him to show up. Faith got a baby doll & Grace enjoyed dressing magnetic dolls. Later in the day we went to my parents house for our "Christmas Morning." It is one of my favorite times because everyone sits around and we take turns opening presents. The girls got LOTS of really nice gifts. Grace got one of those video game bicycles from my brothers. They were quick to point out that it won educational toy of the year.
Christmas with Nana:
Jeremy's mom came to stay with us for our Christmas. It was lots of fun. Faith received her very favorite present. A Zebra she can bounce on. She bounced on it for 20 minutes before getting off. She really loves to bounce. Grace & Nana tried out her puzzles & new dress up shoes. The girls also got a new dress up trunk to hold there expanding dress up collection. Later Jeremy, Charlene, & I watched home movies from Jeremy growing up. It was pretty entertaining.
We had a great Christmas!!