We are blessed,
and Christmas was just the icing on the cake of a wonderful year.
Granted, it wasn't always rainbows and smiles.
Clare, our sweet and nurturing little 4-year-old, was equally as excited about giving gifts to her teddy bear as she was about receiving them. Here they are in matching dresses, and below is a video of Clare presenting Pinkie with a Christmas Gift.
The whole Durham gang was together,
and we went to Christmas Eve service together on Monday evening.
Clare was wiped out and fell asleep right before we left for church.
Her energy quickly returned when we opened the traditional
"one present on Christmas Eve" gift.
"one present on Christmas Eve" gift.
She opened a really special memory book from her Aunt Marcie and Uncle Brian.
She LOVED seeing all of the special pictures from our family vacation this summer.
Daddy and Clare sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn
so that Santa would know where to land.
Santa had no trouble finding us, and he gobbled up his cookies and hot chocolate.
CHRISTMAS MORNING!
This was one of the gifts that Clare made for Mema and Papa.
Isaac, who is totally car obsessed, loved playing with his new cars. He organized them in his new garage, and that kept him entertained throughout most of the morning.
Phil had fun with that too!
Phil had fun with that too!
After a wonderful day, lots of family fun, and a fantastic Christmas FEAST (salmon, steak, grilled peppers, sweet potatoes, portobello mushrooms, and green beans), we finished the day with our annual BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR JESUS!
Happy Birthday, Jesus!
I've been a huge Christmas fan ever since I was a little girl. I was ALWAYS the first one out of bed, and I relentlessly tortured the rest of the family until they joined me next to the Christmas tree. Once again, I was the first one out of bed this year (although our anxious little girl, whose apple doesn't fall far from her mother's tree, wasn't far behind). I enjoyed spending the first few minutes of Christmas morning in reflection of how deeply blessed we are to have a Savior that was born so that we could live. My prayer for 2013 is to begin every day with that same profound gratitude.
Just for fun...
2 comments:
Merry Christmas, Corrie!
What a blessing to be able to be with your whole family for Christmas!! You guys do live in America's playground, I had no idea there was a legoland there too! And I remember your mom talking about the questioning thing last summer and she used hair cutting as the example- I am taking notes, because I think you handled it beautifully!
Post a Comment