these trees usually stand really tall! Brian went and shook the snow off them a few times so they wouldn't break. The last two days of school were cancelled and we were so glad Naunie and Grandpa got here when they did or they probably wouldn't have been able to get here for a few more days!
We decided to tile the dining room while they were here because grandpa
has done it quite a bit and we have a friend with a tile saw. It ended
up being more work and more money than we'd planned (as these things
usually do!) but we love how it turned out and were grateful to have
grandpa's help! Now Brian knows how to do it and can do the kitchen as well.
before...
during...
On Christmas Eve we decorated gingerbread cookies to leave out for Santa. Wesley had this huge bruise on his forehead from running in to a table at the library. :(
We also had our Christmas Eve program. Naunie and the girls performed the classic "Chinnies" and sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Sophie played Away in a Manger on the piano...
Brian played a David Lanz Christmas song...
I read "The Gift of the Magi" but couldn't finish because I was crying (I just love that story!) so Brian finished reading it for me. Nora performed her ballet routine and Naunie read "The Night before Christmas". Grandpa sang a song and played the guitar and the boys did some various cartwheels and tricks for us... for some reason no pictures were taken for some of these! Oops!
The kids got their Christmas Eve jammies and a family puzzle. Wesley refused to wear his new jammies though - silly boy!
Checking to see where Santa is on the Santa tracker website!
Leaving a note and the cookies for Santa right before bed:
We push the beds together and let the kids all sleep together on Christmas Eve. Although we did end up moving Wes to his own bed.
Here are their stockings and Santa bags on Christmas morning!
Santa brought Miles a stealth rider remote control car.
Santa brought Sophie some binoculars and a nature book.
Santa brought Nora a rock smoother. She had written him a letter that said, "Dear Santa, I have been good all year long!
Please get me at least one thing from my list! I really want a rock
smoother because I've been collecting rocks my whole life with nothing
to do with them exsept to look at them!" Love, Nora.... how could Santa not oblige to that? She was pretty excited.
Santa brought Wesley a Chuck truck, which he loved. The kids also got a stuffed animal and a book from Santa in their bags.
Miles and his Rescue Bot! Wesley actually ended up LOVING the Rescue Bot and wanted it constantly so Miles decided to give it to him and we took Miles out and got him a different one. Now they play with them together every day.
Grandpa got some nice Bose headphones that really came in handy while he was here, since they are noise blocking :)
Naunie got an ipad! She was excited and we all had a great time playing Fruit Ninja on it while she was here.
Nora got a bunch of Junie B. Jones books.
We decided gifts within our family had to be homemade. Sophie made Brian a football board game. She worked hard on it and it turned out pretty cute. Miles painted Brian this picture to hang in his office at work.
Sophie made me a rice pack and Nora made me a weaved picture.
I also got all of the Harry Potter DVD's. I bought them on Black Friday and was pretty excited. Brian got a calendar for his office and an old Reader's Digest Piano Book with all the great old school children's songs in it. It was kind of funny because my sister in law Hannah has this book and when I saw it this summer at our family reunion I knew I wanted to get it for Brian for Christmas. On Amazon it was $50 plus shipping so I wasn't going to spend that much. But Hannah had said her neighbor had one so I ended up buying it for $15 from Hannah's neighbor and then they mailed it to us! I was to thankful, it's a fun book and I can't wait for Brian to play us some songs from it.
Naunie and Grandpa got their annual Family Album, which they love. Nora got a box of Care bears I'd been picking up at thrift stores (all
with the tags still on!) She is very in to Care Bears these days and was
pretty excited!
Naunie and Grandpa got the girls a Calico Critter doll house. Of course they were thrilled with this. They love those sweet little animal families, and so do I!
Naunie and Grandpa got the boys a Batman Imaginext Batcave. They were also thrilled and it has been played with daily, sometimes even by all four kids! Thanks Naunie and Grandpa! It was a great Christmas. We felt so blessed to have Naunie and Grandpa here with us to celebrate this special time of year. It was a great first Christmas in our new home.
1 comment:
It was definitely our pleasure being there! Everything was just wonderful. Thank you all so much for all the love! Nothing better than spending time with family!
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