Christmas Day

The kids came running in our room with their stockings at 6:30.  They may remember this as the Christmas Mommy woke up with no voice.  I tried to say "Merry Christmas!" when they came in, but just some scratchy noises came out (it didn't fully return for 4 days!).

 Alison had a little surprise waiting for her by the tree...

And then Santa started handing out the presents.

Maya could not handle all of the excitement and wanted to be a part of everything, even daddy trying to take a picture of Colin.

This Christmas was also historic because I actually surprised Ben!  Our friend, Brian, is the shooting instructor for the border patrol and has lots of connections...he helped me buy Ben a gun, without him knowing a thing.  They have taken all the boys out shooting targets and Ben wanted one for our family.

Opening my present from Alison; a cotton decoration that I have been wanting for a long time.  She was so sweet to get it for me.

Ben surprised me with a new phone!  He put a new case in my stocking and pulled off a good lie that it was to "upgrade" my current, falling apart phone.  I was so excited to open this, I sprang from the couch to give him a hug...this is the action shot:

We had tea pastries when we were all done opening presents.

Alison's lot:

Eli's lot:

Some of Colin's (he likes to quickly hide valuables under his bed) and our family gifts:

My sister also sent us a real wreath and fake snow.  I loved her idea of helping it feel a little more like winter.

My lot:

Ben's lot:

The kids all loved their new drawing pads!

Eli learning how to use his new bow and arrow:

Hours of the afternoon were spent here:



We Skyped with some family throughout the day.  My sister called and somehow Alison and Katherine got the phone and talked about all the shopkins they got.



Ben took the kids out for a bike ride, so Alison could test out her new wheels.  I LOVE seeing them ride together!




For dinner, we had prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, roasted carrots and mashed potatoes.

As I tucked Colin in bed that night, he whispered to me, "You and me sure did get spoiled this Christmas, Momma."  I think spoiled would be an understatement for this Christmas.  So many thoughtful gifts and surprises and just being all together made this the best Christmas ever.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve

We went to church Christmas Eve morning, came home and made zwiebach and the White's joined us for an early dinner before heading back to church.

 

We also made bruschetta with fresh pesto and tomatoes from our garden.

The cutest bunch of kids I've ever seen.

Brian's mom was also able to join us and we had perfecto pork, Nonny's mashed potatoes, applesauce, peas and zwiebach.  

Friends who become family is such a sweet thing.  Laurel brought the most thoughtful gift over that night; a fifth setting to our Christmas china.  I was so blown away...she noticed our china one time when they were over and I told her that Ben's dad got that for us when Alison was just a baby and at the time were not even sure if we would ever use it.  Now we use it more than we ever thought we would, but have more people in our family than we also thought we would and someone has to use a mismatch plate.  I don't even know how she found the exact pattern! 

{Standing on a step for the picture because Laurel hates always being the tall one}

After Christmas Eve service, we let the kids open their new Christmas pj's.

Sea World

While we were in San Diego, we decided to use up our free day at Sea World as well.

In the shark tunnel:

We got some snacks and went to the dolphin show.

 

Eli's favorite part of the day was the cotton candy.

Eli was so excited to ride another roller coaster.  We stood on this bridge for a couple of minutes watching the coaster and contemplating whether it was a good idea; it was fast and went sideways in a several spots.  Eli was determined to go, so Ben took him.

Alison, Colin and I waited on the bridge to watch them.

He, again, loved it.  Boy am I glad Ben can take him!

Then we stopped by to say hello to the orcas.  No big deal, just feet away from a killer whale.

It was so fun to watch them swim around.

 

We ended at the giant play place and let the kids run around before driving home.  We had to leave because we were freezing! 

Happy 14 years to us!

We told the kids that morning that it was a special day because it was our anniversary too.  The kids were a little confused what that meant and Ben explained that it was like a birthday for our family.  I love that and we certainly had a great day celebrating the gift of our little family.