It was supposed to snow here on Christmas, but it didn’t. We were bummed, but it did snow a little in Henryetta, so we went down there on the 26th to play. The Southwards were there, so we got to play with them and Tony was nice enough to let us use his golf cart to pull the kids around. When we got too cold, Papa made us all some hot chocolate. Lots of fun!
Eli was so excited about his gift for Derek. Several months back we were at Wal-Mart and he saw these Superman boxers. He said, “Cool, we have to get those for Daddy.” I said, “Sure, you can give them to him for Christmas.” Then, when it came time to wrap presents, he colored this superhero picture and wrote on the back all by himself, “Daddy, you are my hero. Eli” (I told him which letters to write, but he wrote it.)
Cori got her nice clean polka dot sheet.
From us, the kids each got three small gifts (need, want, and spiritual). The needs were the sheet for Cori and a light saber tooth brush for Eli. The spiritual gifts were homemade Christ and prophet puzzles and Power Tunes. The wants were roller skates and a bow and arrow. We took them to the church to play with the wants.
We got Daddy headphones : )
Santa brought Cori a jumpolene and Eli a Lego storage unit and small Ninja Lego set.
Santa also brought us all sugary cereal in our stockings. A special treat since I usually just get the healthy cereal.
On Christmas Day we just chilled all day and played with toys. Grandma and Papa came for dinner. I didn’t take many pics, but this is the kids eating their mince meat pies (a tradition form Derek’s family).
We are thankful for the knowledge we have of our Savior Jesus Christ and the opportunity we have each year to celebrate his life and gift to us.
At the Gastaldo party we convinced Mom to play the accordion (I’ll try to post the video). Then the big boys helped the little boys put together the Green Eggs and Ham puzzle form Aunt Caroline & Uncle Kent.
Cori read her fairytale book from cousin Lee over and over. She also loves dressing her Mini Mouse from Aunt Glenda and Uncle Sam.
Eli loves his pop-up book from Aunt Mary and Cori is super cool in her bird jammies from Joey and Madison and light-up shades from David and Becka.
Cori and Jana, her new doll from Grandma and Papa, are very proud of their matching outfits. In the other pic, she is trying to feel baby Isaac kick.
All of us kids got together and got my parents a cruise. It was a bit of a mess because Dad decided to take a job and come out of retirement the day before he was supposed to leave on the cruise. Unbeknownst to him, it through a kink in the plan, but we changed the date and hopefully they will have fun!
I got a new basketball goal from Mom and Dad, so now I can teach these kids to ball.
As always, we enjoyed spending time with family during Christmas. The kids were spoiled rotten by all the people that love them. We are also grateful for the technology that allowed us to skype with the Willson’s in New Zealand and Hardgrave’s in Guam.
On December 1st we loaded up our Christmas tree in Daddy’s new truck, and from then on it was non-stop Christmas fun! Oliver, our shelf elf, came to report the kids behavior back to Santa. One day he used an army guy hang glider to fly into the tree. The kids loved finding him each day.
The Santa beards ended up being our Christmas card.
Eli got to ride on the Polar Express at school and one evening we acted out the Nativity with the Southwards.
One night we went to Rheema and Bass Pro Shop, which was lots of fun. The lights were amazing and the kids were super excited to see Santa. Eli asked for legos and a bow & arrow. Cori asked for a polka dot sheet (because hers has a stain on it).
We also had fun making ginger bread houses, treats for the neighbors, and homemade wrapping paper.
The Primary gave all the kids an advent calendar with scriptures to go along with each night, so that helped us all remember to true reason for the season. When I got out the Christmas decorations, the kids were excited to set up the small nativity set on the coffee table. While I was doing some other decorating, they set it up with a small Christmas train around it. Not exactly traditional, but I thought it was cute, so we left it like that. I’m just realizing that I should have taken a picture of that.
Eli and I made leaf rub place cards for Thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dads. Everyone contributed to a great meal, but I didn’t get any pics of that. I was too busy eating : )
After we ate, we went for a walk/ride at the boardwalk and visited the Lackey and Warden clans.
Eli decided this was the first Thanksgiving table, where the Pilgrims and Indians ate.
