Christmas Report

I've been on a bit of a blogging sabbatical.  It is partly due to the fact that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are completely jam packed with family gatherings and I didn't have time to write.  And it's partly due to the fact that after Christmas day was over, I was enjoying spending time with my guys and wasn't inspired to write. 

But it's mostly because of this.....

My new toy.

I don't remember spending so much time with a new Christmas gift like this one since I was a kid.  I love, love, love my new Kindle Fire.

I gave so many hints that I wanted one, that I actually got two.  I got a Kindle from my Mom for Christmas and a Kindle Fire from my sweet hubby. 

I also scored some new shoes....since my pinky toes were sticking out of my old ones....and a super awesome North Face backpack, made for hiking.  I got several other goodies, too.

I am loved.

But enough about me.

Here is the our Christmas report 2011 via way of photos.....

Christmas at my Granny's came first.  My granny gave birth to 2 kids....my Mom and my Uncle Randy.

My Mom had 3 kids....my older brother (Jeffrey), me, and my younger sister (Jamie).  My Uncle Randy had 2 sons....Rodney and Ryan.

Between the five of us grandkids....so far, we have had 11 great-grand kids.

There is nowhere that my Granny would rather be, than to be surrounded by her greatgrands.

On Sunday night before Christmas, the kids had their Christmas program at church.  There is nothing more precious than toddlers and preschoolers portraying the manger scene.

My boys have outgrown the manger scene and are instead assigned speaking parts, but it's precious all the same.

My mother-in-law's Christmas came next.  Christmas at her house is always so casual with easy conversation.  Here the kids are wild, but it is somehow acceptable at Meme's house.

Christmas with our friends was next.  We have a long history with the Adams.  They are our oldest friends.  We have been celebrating Christmas with them since each of our first children were born.

It's hard to believe that these two.....

Now look like this.....

These friends deserve their own blog story.  I think I'll write one soon.

But for now....back to Christmas.....

The boys look forward to Christmas at Bradley's grandparents because of this......

The football tradition.

They call it "The Amos Bowl".

I reminded the boys before we arrived that we didn't swap gifts at Bradley's grandparents house.  Their reply was...

"Who cares about the gifts?  We get to play FOOTBALL!"

On Christmas eve, we spent the evening at my Mom and Dad's house.  It's my favorite part of Christmas.....except the part at my own house....with my own kids.

I love Christmas at my Moms.

The boys were pumped that they got new hiking boots from their Nana and Pop.  They are all set for our big trip out west next year.

On Christmas Eve, the boys were giddy with excitement.  They begged to open some of their gifts early.  But, I am hardcore.  I made them wait until Christmas morning.

Their pile from Santa looked small this year, because little things cost big money.  All the boys were thrilled to find Ipod touches under the tree, along with cases and chargers for them, some movies, flashlights, K'nex, and a football.

The Ipods have been hours of fun since Christmas morning.  They are a mega hit.

Everything else was wrapped under the tree.

It took all of 5 seconds for them to tear through all of their packages. 

This year, they had 7 packages each to unwrap.  Believe me....they kept an accurate count.

The Ipods definitely ranked as their favorite gift.  But each one of the boys have spent time with other gifts, too over the past couple of days.

Carter has enjoyed his real artist sketch pad.

Sawyer and Carter have both enjoyed the K'Nex sets.  They even connected the 2 sets and created one giant coaster.....with their Dad's help.  It's actually very impressive.

Tucker has spent most of his time on his Ipod, but he has also taken some time to read through this snake book.  He even altered his snake tank after reading about what would make the habitat better.

After waking at 5:30am and spending a couple of hours at home with the boys enjoying our gifts, we got dressed and attended our Christmas Day church service.

(It wasn't actually snowing this year on Christmas.  This photo was taken last year on Christmas Day.)

Our Christmas Day service at our church is always especially meaningful.

The church was packed.  The music was sweet.  The message about the gift of Jesus was beautiful. And the communion portion of the service is always moving.

Christmas for me this year was perfect.  Everything about it.

I am certainly a summer time type girl. 

Winter is blah.  Everything is cold and dreary.

The daylight hours are short.

The school days are long.

Winter is my least favorite time of year.

But Christmas is the bright spot of the winter.

It's my favorite day of the year.

And this was one of my favorite Christmas' ever.