Here are a few highlight pictures from Christmas (I posted an album of 30 or so on Facebook, but I tried to limit them a little bit here). Unfortunately, the stomach flu caught up with Kevin on Christmas Eve, so he spent most of Christmas Day in bed. He did manage to drag himself downstairs and prop himself up on the couch while the kids opened gifts (which really helped it
feel a bit more like Christmas ~ for me!). We got to see grandparents and cousins on Christmas night and Auntie Penny spent the entire Christmas weekend with us as well! We haven't yet been able to assemble the kids' "big gift" -- a 70 ft zipline for the backyard! Currently, the yard is covered in snow (which has made for some fun sledding the past few days). I should have figured it out by now, but for some reason it
still surprises me when some of the smallest little things we give the kids turn out to be the most fun (Anna nearly did backflips over her Dora toothbrush and Samuel's little 50 cent train ornament, filled with candy, didn't leave his side for several days!). It was fun to have them open their gifts from their out of state Grandma (Shirley) while she was on speaker phone with them ~ she got to hear them "ooh" and "ahh" and chatter excitedly . . . one of these days we need to creep farther into the 21st century and invest in a webcam!
We like to set a leisurely pace on Christmas and don't usually even
begin to open gifts until 10:30 or 11:00. This year was no different. By lunchtime, packaging and toys were strewn about the living room and it looked a little bit like a tornado had touched down. The kids were all very thrilled and thankful for the gifts they received ~ and in reality, we probably gave them too much. In spite of that, the deep down really fun part is that I think they truly "get it" (the older ones especially) that the
real gift is still Jesus . . . born among the outcasts in a dirty, stinky stable ~ who came that we might have abundant life (both now and for all eternity), who came in a way that made no sense to give to us a life that does. We are daily aware of the many blessings He has poured into our lives. It's a wee bit late, but we wish you a Merry
CHRISTmas!
