Christmas Again!

I don't know where the year went, but here we are again at Christmas!  Aaron did some fun wrapping that we had to capture-he used the kids' stuffed animals as part of the tags for their gifts.  Andrew actually came looking for one of his stuffed animals before bed that night-ridiculous considering how many stuffed animals we have around our house-way too many!

 Un-stuffing the stockings.  I wish I could say that half the kids are naked because it was so hot that night that we slept with the fans on (which we did), but they actually sleep half dressed every night no matter the temperature.

 Jane was happy with her big puppy (why would Santa buy yet another stuffed animal?!?!) and ninja turtle.  And Leo drove his police cars around all morning.

 Andrew and Porter sport their new minion pajama pants.  This means they have to follow all orders while wearing them, like a minion, right?

We also had fun playing this family match game that Grandma and Grandpa Smyth made for us with pictures of all their kids and grandkids-great memories!

 After an early ham dinner, the boys snuck David upstairs for yes--a Monopoly game.  No family gathering is complete without it:)  Leo spent most of the afternoon trying to play with other people's gifts.  Here he is with Andrew's ball gun stuffed in his pants and when we told him he couldn't play with it because it was Andrew's, he replied, "Andrew's not here!"  Hmm...I guess that's a good excuse.

 Aaron and his parents (who we are so thankful to have around every day of the year).

These are two skirts that my mother gave me that she made when they were first married, from fabric my Dad brought back from his mission to South Africa.  I don't remember them but I am so excited to have them (and fit into them if I lose a few more pounds).

 One of Porter's completed 1000 piece puzzles.  We were all wishing they were real by the end:)

Traditions

We love our Christmas Eve traditions!  This year's 'divine bovine' pinata came with a story.  As in, Porter and David were asked to do it, but David couldn't really help since he was busy graduating, and Porter kept procrastinating because he was waiting for David to be available.  Then Mom decided to take matters into her own hands.  Porter wanted to do a cow, so I must say he owned the idea, but the construction and painting were totally Mom and that is also why the pinata only lasted through the three little kids.  Mom was lacking a little in the reinforcement area-oops!  And thank you Daddy for the fantastic nose and legs and hangy device.  Maybe we better not let Mom take over next year

Poor Leo didn't have a nap this day and promptly drank his juice and laid on the floor as we were getting dinner ready following the pinata.

Here is our group-we were so glad to have Bro. Panton join us for our Christmas Eve festivities.  It was fun listening to him tell us about their traditions and food.  His family emigrated from Jamaica and he wasn't able to go home too New York this year.

Last but not least, the real reason for our celebrations.  This was sweet-as Muna was narrating the nativity story, 'Joseph' was pointing to 'Mary' on the 'donkey' and she took his hand which she thought he was offering to balance her as they rode to Bethlehem.  The angel surprised us with loud heavenly choirs on the speakers from his phone after his reading was done.  And the donkey was truly in character, chewing the hay.  

I feel like we need to act this out every day during the Christmas season to really remember its true significance.  How blessed we are to have the truth of our Savior's role in the plan of happiness each day of the year.  Merry Christmas!

Surprise!

As a Christmas surprise, we announced to the children we were going to Hershey Park the night before the 22nd.  Aaron made up a clue game for them to find out the surprise and at first they thought they had just solved the puzzle and didn't realize we were actually going there.  They were definitely happy when they figured out it was the next day. 

We stayed in a hotel that had a duck pond of very friendly and very hungry ducks.  All the ducks we've ever encountered seem to nip and bite, but these were so gentle.  Aaron really got tickled when he fed them from his hand.  It was hilarious to watch!

Then we headed to 'Chocolate World' and rode the little ride they have about making chocolate.

Andrew tried to sample some of the larger pieces that were for sale.

This house in the background is made completely from candy and chocolate.  That night the kids had a fantastic time riding, and riding and riding rides.  It's amazing how fast four hours of amusement park can go!

And by the way...happy 14th anniversary to us:)

Favorite Things

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house and I realized the other day, I've never taken pictures of some of our favorite Christmas things.  And now is as good a time as any (before anything else gets broken or lost).  

 This is one of our countdowns made with lots of little pockets.  I fill it with coins or gum or a written suggestion of a service to give each day.  The kids all enjoy this one.

 My windowsill nativity that I love to look at while doing dishes.

 More of our nativity collection.  The one in the back is actually a wooden block puzzle that our dear friend Marjie cut and painted for us.

 The special Christmas books we read each year, our 'manger' with hay to fill it as the children do good deeds, and kid friendly nativity blocks.

 My carolers-I don't think anyone else really likes this but I love it because there is so much beautiful music that goes along with Christmas and this reminds me of that.

A new nativity that I made this year with vinyl (ordered on line) and a goodwill frame.  I still need something else to put on either side of the mantle, but one step at a time I guess.  I hope that someday the children will like looking back on our decorations and thinking about their own favorites.

Andrew's Day

This birthday boy turned 10 on the 15th this month.  Andrew is a good kid!  He's been growing like a weed, wearing both the same size pants and shoes as Porter.  He eats a ginormous bowl (the picture really doesn't even do it justice) of 'Hunny Bunches of Oats' every morning.  Honestly, it takes the rest of us 3 or 4 days to eat that much cereal.   

His favorite activity is still anything that has to do with computers, in fact, he recently gave a presentation on them at school.  He does also enjoy riding his bike, playing soccer, and playing games.  Speaking of which, probably his most exciting gift was a mini foosball table. 4

Now when it came time for cake, things got kind of funny.  Donut cake, no surprise-but when we started singing to him, the little sign caught on fire.  By the time we blew it out, the 'w' was gone, so then we finished singing to 'Andre'-ha, ha!

We were quite proud of Andrew during his soccer season this fall.  The team he ended up on had a lot of first time and non-aggressive players, so the poor team lost every single game, often by a lot.  Andrew could have reacted poorly, but instead, he continued to have a positive attitude and play his best.