I wanted to make sure I document that this year was the first time we did a family advent devotional together throughout the month at dinner time. I absolutely loved it! Taylor would start off by placing the lit votive candle inside our manger. Emmerson would read the opening scripture. Dustin would read the message and Donovan would wrap it up with the closing prayer. Emmerson especially had very insightful things to offer in our conversations each night. All of us were thinking deeply about the words we read together and Taylor, without missing a beat would say every single night, "And you know what, God loves us!" (Complete with the cutest lisp in the whole wide world.) Anyways, I can't wait to carry on this tradition in the years to come. It definitely centered every evening on the true meaning of the season and I could tell the kids seemed to embrace the story of Jesus' birth in a much more tangible way than perhaps they had in the past.
Onto Christmas Eve. Oma and Grampie invited us over for dinner. We started with an online church serving at 4.
Truth: I have NEVER seen my Dad wear actual pajamas and I think this alone made my entire Christmas. How adorable is Grampie in his Christmas jammies?
The big kids have really taken to Oma and Grampie's piano and spend so much time attempting to put into practice everything they have learned from our music teacher at school. On this night they player Silent Night over and over again.
The dinner was so wonderful and we shared some great laughs all hanging around their Christmas tree that evening. But as it got late, we raced back home to make sure we could get into bed before Santa's arrival.
First thing we had to do when we got home was prepare the reindeer food in our dutch klompen outside. There was a big debate about the best placement for the reindeer and this spot was decided upon as the easiest for the reindeer to access.
Next up, cookies and milk. Donovan wanted to make sure that Santa left a comment about the cookies this year. And then, off to bed they excitedly went. It took them awhile to settle in for the night. They were so anxious for Santa's arrival. Eventually around 10 they all fell asleep. Then it was about 1:30 in the morning by the time Santa's elves could call it a night themselves. ;) It was a busy night to say the least.
Around 6:30 in the morning Donovan was the first one up. He then woke up his sisters with an excited, "Santa came! There's presents!" Dustin and I tiredly gave each other a knowing kick under the covers but not much more as we tried to squeeze in every last bit of sleep that we could get.
But shortly after came Donovan again bounding into out bed shouting, "Guys!!! Santa wrote that the cookies were delicious and it's in a handwriting I have NEVER seen before!!!"
And so the beginning of another beautiful Christmas full of magic.
The kids used their stockings as a clue onto which pile of presents belonged to who.
They very patiently took turns opening their gifts one at a time. Taylor was the shyest of the three telling everyone not to look until she had it completely unwrapped. And then with sooo much joy she would reveal each gift as if it were the best thing she had ever seen. Some of her favorite gifts were playdough play sets, a Bluey house and action figures, toy horses, and Duplo sets.
Donovan was especially excited that he received an Echo Dot so he can listen to music all the time and use Alexa to tell him interesting facts whenever he wants. He received lots of books, rollerblades, a book to hold all of his recipes in, a hockey set and Harry Potter Lego sets.
Emmerson of course is always grateful for everything. She was thrilled with a horse necklace, mini brands surprises, stuffed animal puppies, some toy horses, and doll clothes.
After the first round of opening, we went outside to try out our new rollerblades. It was a doozy at first, but it didn't take long to get them going.
Santa surprised the kids with this activity table that he left in the garage. That was also a fun surprise in the morning.
Later in the morning, Oma, Grampie, and Oma Oma came over for coffee and breakfast. They brought so many generous gifts for the kids. Something to wear, something they need, something they wanted and something to read. They were SO excited with all of their gifts! They spent the rest of the day going from gift to gift playing with all of them. We were all lazy all day long. It was a very hot Christmas here, in the 80s, so we were outside in shorts and t-shirts for the majority of the day. Dustin set up a hammock and we chatted with neighbors that walked by throughout the afternoon. I got around to making dinner late. We had a yummy pesto lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. The kids were so tired by the time we finished dinner, they were practically asleep at the table.
Late in the evening, Grammi brought out round 3 of presents. The kids got so many toys and cute clothes. It was a crazily generous Christmas for these very lucky kiddos. If you don't believe me... here was what the afternoon living room status looked like.
Whew! What a day.
It was a wonderful Christmas. I am so happy we were able to share it with our family. I hope all of you had a blessed holiday with your loved ones as well.
