Christmas Day

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!

Alright, so here's the run down of our day:

This morning we woke up and went and checked out our stockings :) The kids had so much fun! Some of the items they'd received last night were now put together and others now had batteries, plus they had a ton of fun loot from their stockings. It was so fun watching their eyes light up. Madison's favorite gift this year was her Strawberry Shortcake Remote Control Car and Hudson's favorite gift I think was either his little Leap Frog Little Lap Top or his Tool Bench!

After everyone had opened their stockings, breakfast was started. We had country ham (a tradition for Christmas sent to us by my Great Aunt Peggy and Great Uncle Hoyt), biscuits, scrambled eggs, orange juice, and blackberries.

Once breakfast was finished, it was time to say farewell to my parents and then finish prepping for my in-laws to arrive. Hudson was down for his nap, Madison was busy playing will all of her fun new toys, art supplies, books, etc...and I was blessed with another wonderful phone call from the love of my life. I was able to talk to him for a little bit and then we had to part ways, but he had planned on setting an alarm to attempt to call a little later when his parents were over.

When Hudson was napping, Madison and I sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Madison told me the story of Christmas, using our nativity set. It was so sweet!

For our late lunch/early dinner we had oven roasted teriyaki (homemade sauce) chicken, garlic and onion roasted diced red potatoes, sauteed brussel sprouts with bacon, and a broccoli salad that Hilda brought.

As we were finishing up our meal, Alex finally was able to get through on the wi-fi connection. It took him over an hour to get a good connection! Love that man, he kept trying without giving up. We all took turns talking to him for a little bit and then we went into the living room and let the kids open their presents. Alex was able to stay on face time the whole time and watch the kids open their gifts. (I wasn't able to really get any pictures of this part because Alex was on Face Time on my phone, so I have one just before Alex called and that is it). 

Alex's parents stayed for the afternoon and just before they left to head home, we remembered to take a picture of them with the kids.

As soon as Alex's parents left, I began prepping for our trip to my parents' house tomorrow. I am going to get to have dinner with my sisters tomorrow night, meet my new niece Ava, and then go to the annual Christmas party on Thursday night and see wonderful friends and family that I've known since I was four years old! So, the laundry went in, the packing began, and so on...the kids played with all of their new stuff for a little bit and then I had to figure out what I was going to throw together for dinner since I was silly and forgot to plan something. So, the kids had egg salad sandwiches, beef stick, yogurt and fruit! They were happy! :)

Once the kids were in bed, I tore our Christmas tree apart as quickly as possible. I have many reasons for doing this. The most practical reason being that the trash comes tomorrow, but that is definitely not the main reason. I have received flack from different people for not relaxing tonight and for taking the tree down, when there is plenty of time to do it. While I know it's all out of love, I just want the tree out of the house. I don't want to come back to it on Friday when we get home! Here's the deal: While I absolutely LOVE Christmas and everything it stands for, I am ready for it to be over. I can't really explain it, but while yesterday and today were so much fun, a big piece of my heart was missing and therefore it just wasn't the same. Thus, I am ready for it to be over. I am ready to move on to the next big event and to be that much closer to my love coming home! So, the picture below is all of our trash from Christmas, including the tree, on our curb ready for the trash trucks to come by and take it all away! 

I am ready for tomorrow, bring it on! Good-bye Christmas; hello tomorrow!