After a 6 month break from the blog, let's try to get caught up and return to normal posting. Life is so busy, and there is so much to document. So it's Christmas Eve . . . and it's super warm. Like warm enough that the boys decided a dip in the pool would be a good idea! We let them go for it, but it turned out that the water was actually pretty chilly! They didn't get any lower than the second step and then bolted! It was fun anyway!
Minnie, Bubbles and Ally arrived from Arkansas, and they did lots of playing. When it was time to get ready for church, a little chaos occurred. They had matching shirts for the service, but we couldn't find Beau's shirt. (Really long story short - it was in the car from Beau's school Christmas program in case he wanted to change into a fancy shirt.) Minnie was in charge of dressing them and found a suitable replacement. Mom ok-ed the shorts, and off to church we went for the 6:00 Christmas Eve service. Two cuties hanging out on the stairs (with long legs!!). We all met up with Nana and Pops there.
They were pretty busy with books and drawing during most of the service. Lincoln made the most amazing book of pictures of the story of the birth of Jesus all the way to his burial and resurrection and even ending with drawing us celebrating in church. The hard copy is stored away, and 4 copies were made for posterity. It made each of us tear up, and we were all so proud of Lincoln. Beau wrote out a grocery list of his favorite snacks with illustrations!! Their favorite part was the candle lighting, and they were super careful.
We all sang Silent Night, and Lincoln was feeling especially touched. He blew a kiss to Jesus in Heaven before he blew out his candle. Be still, my heart!!!
It was a beautiful service, and we all enjoyed hearing the real meaning of the season. How pretty to see the entire congregation with candles. (And it was a packed house!)
We went back to our house for our annual (two years now?) tradition of soups for dinner on Christmas Eve. We had the usual Taco Soup simmering, and this year we added Chicken Enchilada Soup. It was delicious!! For dessert, we had mini apple pies and brownies.
It was time for Arkansas presents, and the boys were so excited! We exchanged gifts with Minnie, Bubbles and Ally, and they had even brought extra gifts from other Aunts. Big smiles all around! Remote control cars, Ninja Turtle sets, and a Hot Wheels race track were the favorites.
The grown ups had fun too. We loved our gifts, but we might not have been able to reach the enthusiasm of a 6- and 4-year old!
Our company left, and the boys got settled in bed after leaving Santa some milk and cookies. Santa arrived just after midnight and left them EXACTLY what they had asked for. It's pretty great that they didn't have the "gimmies" and didn't go overboard asking for extravagant gifts. They each picked out a Lego set they wanted, a Star Wars Mr. Potato Head (Luke Fry-Walker and Darth Tater), and a toy lawn toy (random). They got to share a metal detector truck to drive around the yard. Santa ate a cookie, set up the gifts and was on his way. Thanks Santa!
Just in case any curious boys woke up early upstairs and decide to wander down to check out what Santa might have left, a large piece of easel paper was taped to the top of the stairs as a barrier! Genius parents, right????
Side note: the night before Christmas Eve, Kevin and Corey decided they should install our new faucet in the kitchen at 10:30 at night. Somehow that idea got shot down, and Bubbles took care of it before church. Thank goodness!!!
So, bets on how well the paper barrier worked on Christmas morning??? Anyone . . . anyone???
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