Christmas was all around us

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. I love Christmas.
This year was no exception.
On Christmas Eve, we went to our church’s Christmas Eve service. I love the Christmas Eve service, although I don’t know what it was exactly, but my kids were extra squirrely this year and Derek was working sound which means I was on my own trying to wrangle them in the pew. Overall, they did okay, and I still loved the service. During the service, each family goes down to the front, lights a candle, takes communion, and prays with one of the elders and his wife. It really is such a special time of communion, and you better believe that Camryn made it extra special and memorable by marching down the aisle with no shoes on and her dress held up high over her head. Classic. That girl is a mess!
After the service, we had planned on going over to a friend’s house, but we decided that it would be best to just try and get the kids settled. We read the Christmas story together from my favorite kid’s bible (seriously, if you are looking for a great bible for kids, this is such a good one!) We watched a short movie together, checked out Santa’s whereabouts on the Santa Tracker, and nestled everyone in their beds. Amazingly enough, the all fell asleep pretty quickly!

I don’t know if every family has Christmas morning rules, but we sure do.  No one is allowed to come out and see if Santa made an appearance until Derek or I tell them they can, and it’s not going to happen until after 7:00.  They can go into each others rooms, but only after 6:45.  At 7:10 I heard the boys, and truth be told, I was totally okay with getting up and getting things started!  I get just about as excited as they do about Christmas!  I won’t lie…I woke up like 10 times the night before.  Yes, I’m still 8 in my heart of hearts.  Camryn was still fast asleep, which was crazy because all week long she had been waking up before 6:30!  So Derek went in and woke her up while I got the video camera ready.

I think the kids are at the perfect Christmas ages.  They still believe so very much.  It’s all so magical and exciting.  Some of the gift highlights were a Harry Potter wand, glasses, and Lego set for Logan, a feather pillow and a DSi for Connor (yes, he was just as excited about his feather pillow as he was about his DSi!  I love that kid.)  And lots of Toy Story and Princess toys in addition to a bike for Camryn.  Derek spoiled me with an awesome camera bag and Lightroom 3.  And Derek got cold, hard, cash (what he wanted to buy computer parts), shirts, and some pretty darn cool Christmas Story glasses.  I didn’t take very many pictures, which is kind of weird for me, but I was really trying to just be in the moment and enjoy it and soak it all in.  And I took more video.  Pictures just can’t capture Logan’s squeals of delight because he literally turns the other way if he sees my camera, but I can be much more stealth with my video camera.  I made this little movie highlighting some of our Christmas fun, and the best part is definitely when Logan open’s his big Santa present (towards the end of the movie…maybe around minute 3).  His squeals of delight will be a part of my memories forever, and just in case i do ever forget, I am so glad that I have it recorded.

And if you not so much a video watcher, here are a few pictures from the day.

Connor was thrilled with his Guinness Book of World Records.

And Logan loves all things Harry Potter, so this game was big hit.

Derek modeling one of his new shirts.  He’s way too cool.

That night, we loaded up the party van and headed north to visit our families.  We are having a great time celebrating with everyone, eating tons of good food, relaxing, and just soaking up these vacation days.

I’ll end this Christmas love fest now with our Christmas card.  Merry Christmas to you and yours!

2 Replies to “Christmas was all around us”

  1. I think Christmas is even more fun as a mom, preparing everything for the kids, anticipating the magic and excitement. I love it too!

    Loved the video! Those Harry Potter glasses have to be my favorite. Logan looks so darn cute!

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