CHRISTMAS 2012!

Our Christmas day was almost perfect (I’ll explain the almost later). We told the kids they couldn’t come out of their rooms before 6:30am. Charlie (who woke up Matthew) joined us in our bedroom right at 6:30 but Lucy was still out. We played a game waiting for her to wake-up and finally around 7 we just woke her up and headed to the Christmas tree!

We approached things a little different this year. After Christmas morning last year, Seth and I looked around and realized it was TOOO much. We decided to go with the three gift approach that I had heard about. Each of the kids got a stocking from Santa that was STUFFED and then three gifts from Seth and myself.  I think I just took the “filler” out of Christmas because when Charlie was going to bed that night he exclaimed, “that was the best Christmas ever!”. (when you add in very generous grandparent gifts and their homemade sibling gifts, there was enough)

The boys made gifts for each other. Charlie really sewed drawstring bags and put chocolate dipped pretzels inside for his siblings while Matthew made worm bookmarks out of felt for Lucy and Charlie. I was happy to see how excited they were to give those gifts.  I was excited to see the 1982 fisher price tea set Lucy received (I had the exact same one as a child). I LOVE ebay!!

A good friend hosted a pajama breakfast at her home Christmas morning so after we finished opening presents we bundled up and went out the door. The feast was grand and It felt good to gather with others on Christmas. When it was time to go the kids were just a little bit quicker than we were to get to the elevators. When we got to the elevators Charlie exclaimed that Lucy had gotten in one of the elevators and the doors had shut (this was a 20 story building). My heart sank and Seth and I immediately started riding the elevator to different levels looking for her. After a LONG 15-20 minutes a very kind person from the seventh floor brought her back to the lobby. We were happy to see her and go on our merry way.

The rest of the day was spent playing games and reading books! The little push wagon from Ikea that Conrad received for Christmas was a huge family favorite. ALL of the kids were constantly fighting over it. Each of the boys got a snake from Grandma and Grandpa Thacker. They both love them but especially Charlie. I didn’t realize he had it draped across him in every picture I took! 

During the week between Christmas and New Years Seth and I went on a date to see a jazz performance at the DC Temple visitors center. They have a holiday performance every night in December; I wish we could have gone to more. I love being so close to a temple.

 

I’m so thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ and his perfect life.