I love, love, love Christmas! It starts with the decor:
We go on top secret Santa missions with code names. Mine is "GAGs" for "get-away-girl", Russ is "Lightning", Chad is "Ferrari", Sarah is "Kitty", and Alyssa is "Kitty Kitty".
We do the Nativity skit on Christmas Eve. Grandma made the costumes and Russ was a surprised shepherd and a donkey:
Mom and Dad braved the snow and visited. They never stay long enough and I drink them up like the finest wine! They kept everything spotless as the "bag lady" and "bag man" collecting wrapping paper as we went. Regarding Christmas dinner, Mom promised to keep it "simple" (which she interprets as making 12 fancy homemade dishes to feed an army in addition to the staples I made). Years ago we decided to do donate to a worthy cause instead of exchanging gifts and we've kept our promise.
My favorite parts of Christmas day are the heartfelt hugs saying thank you for gifts given:
We had the 3 elders over all day. We ate fancy food and had a ping pong tournament (top prize was a Viagra tie), played volleyball surrounded by glass in the family room (totally scary but totally fun!), played games, and had a talent show.
The last gift of the day is always a treasure hunt. My Christmas present to myself is this mahogany dining set. We had our old table for 13 years! It was like saying goodbye to an old friend that had been there through thick and thin. A bit sad, but I'm ready for an update!
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Him who saves us all! I feel abundantly blessed with family and friends at this most wonderful time of the year!
3 comments:
Oh my gosh, what a stunningly gorgeous family! Love these pictures. Sure miss you guys!
Yay someone else who loves Christmas as much as I do! I love your front door...gorgeous!
Here's something funny...We went to Evelynne's on Christmas Eve. She and Andy were both busy doing stuff...the doorbell rang, Aric answered it. The guy on the other side totally confused, started asking where Ev and Andy were...for some reason I thought it was your family, I rush to the door yelling your name. The guy (Bro. Darling) as my nieces inform me, looks even more confused, says "No, not Leah but you sure look like her."
I took that as compliment and it made my night...
It looks like you've got some great traditions of your own that I might have to steal! I love that you all are so generous, it's what it's all about!!
Post a Comment