Christmas Celebrations

We decided to celebrate Christmas a few days early this year.  With other Christmas celebrations going on, we didn't want to cram too much into our days, so we had our Christmas on Sunday, December 23rd in the evening.  We continued the tradition from Drew's childhood of having a Christmas breakfast meal.  We had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a fruit tray, monkey bread, and, of course, Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider (can you tell that's a favorite of ours?). 

When we told Jenna we were going to celebrate Christmas, she wanted to wear her Christmas dress.  That girl LOVES dressing up!

We're amazed that we actually got a good family picture with eyes on the camera, smiles on the faces, and hands at their sides.  And it only took a few tries!  ;)

Before we opened presents we did our advent activity for the day and read the Christmas nativity story and reenacted it with the Little People Nativity set.  We wanted to make sure that the kids understood that even though gift giving and receiving is exciting, we still want to remember what Christmas is all about - the birth of our Lord and Savior!

Stockings came first - we just let the kids rip into them.  Some things Grant got were candy, watercolor paints, a Matchbox car, and Cars Band-aids (it's amazing how exciting Band-aids are at this age).  Some things Jenna got were candy, watercolor paints, a Tinkerbell watch, and Princess Band-aids.

I got some peanut butter M&Ms in my stocking...note the excitement on my face!  GREAT job Drew!!  They're definitely a favorite of mine.  :)

Jenna is able to recognize her name this year, so she enjoyed digging through all the presents to find hers.  Plus it probably helped that hers were wrapped in pink princess paper.  ;)

Let the gift opening begin...

We got Jenna a kid's digital camera because she's always wanting to take pictures with ours.  Plus we thought she might enjoy having it once the baby arrives.

Some Princess Little People!

Grant got a race track!

Both of a the kids got a View Master along with some reels that I had picked up at a garage sale a few years back.  I remember loving these as a kid.

Okay, I wasn't going to include this picture because it's obviously not the best picture of moi.  However, I just had to include the gift my amazing husband got me - an iPad!!!!  I LOVE it!!!  :) 

Drew also had a big present this year - a new mountain bike.  It's a hobby he's taken up recently with a good friend of his, and what's nice, is he can go mountain biking one day after work for a few hours instead of having to set aside an entire day like he does for dirt biking.  I'm happy he has a hobby that gets him outside and away from the stress of the day.  :)   And the best thing is that I was able to purchase the bike using my Scentsy money I've saved up!  With not having a regular income, I didn't want to have to dig into our savings to buy his present and it felt good that it was truly from me.  :)

Obviously the bike is behind me, as I was trying to get a picture of his reaction.  We then completely forgot to actually take a picture of him with his bike!  Oops!

Christmas with Kristin's Family

Jenna and Grant with their cousins, Bentley and Aiden - are they not the CUTEST little boys you've ever seen?!  Just love them!

Brian, Kelley, and the boys

Grant got a fireman costume  - how cute is that?!

Jenna was thrilled to get her Little People Princess castle from Paw-Paw, Maw-Maw, Uncle Brian, and Aunt Kelley.  That's all she wanted for Christmas was the castle and princess people.  :)

Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw with their grandkids

Jenna and Paw-Paw playing with my iPad

The annual grandkids Shutterfly book

Christmas at Grandma Jones's:

Family picture

We tried to take a picture with everyone, but some melt-downs were beginning...and Bentley decided to hide behind Drew's head.  :)

Jenna got some dress-up things from Uncle Keith and Aunt Mary - yay!!

Don't you love that?!  Uncle Keith and Aunt Mary got this Goofy hat for Brian and a Donald Duck one for Drew.  Somehow Drew escaped without any pictures.

Round two of the group shot

Keith and Mary with the adorable boys!

Gram-Gram with all her great-grandkids

Jenna and Grant just love their cousins and enjoy holding them when they can, even if it doesn't last long.  Next Christmas will be even more interesting - the boys will be 1 1/2 years old and we'll also have a 10 month old!