Christmas Morn

Finally!
Christmas morning!
The kids were bursting with excitement and woke up before 6.


Being nice to the grandparents, and brother and sister-in-law, we held off on opening presents until 7.
We stalled them with stockings.
It worked.
For a while.
And then, oh glory!, they skipped into the living room for presents!

That's where they saw these!
New (to them) bikes.
Yippee!

They were all so thrilled.
William's new bike was actually James' old one.
Aaron put on new pedals and grips in William's favorite color.
It also got a new training wheels and a bell.
William didn't mind a bit that his bike was a hand-me-down.
I really appreciated that.

Lilly's trike was also a hand-me-down.
It used to be a sorry looking affair.
Lilly called it the Rusty, Old, Blue, Trike.
She loved riding it, though.
Aaron spray painted it her favorite color, added ribbons, and a bell.
She couldn't have been happier.

James got his first bike with hand brakes.
Remember your first bike with handbrakes?
Remember crashing?
James was excited.
And a little nervous.

It was a bike Christmas.

I remember my bike Christmas.
It was pink and purple, with a banana seat covered in butterflies, a basket with pink flowers on it and I loved it.
I wish I still had that bike.

After bikes, we stopped to remember the real reason we were celebrating Christmas.

We put a candle in a cinnamon roll and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

William brought the chain calender he made in Sunday School all the way to Fallbrook for Christmas morning.

Every year for Christmas Aaron and I give each kid a special book.
It's a book that they'll keep, the idea being that when they have their own kids, they'll have a great collection of children's books.
I try to choose each book based on each child's interests or personality that year.
They love their books.

Davy got one too, of course.

William read it to him.

But he liked the boxes the best.

We take turns watching everyone open gifts.

Can a boy ever have enough Legos?

Dziadzi loved his pictures from our trip to Cambria.

Aaron got some of the world's best candies.

And I got pink Hunters!

Happiness!!

After presents, we turned on Johnny Mathis, made breakfast and the boys wrestled with Uncle B.

He likes to catch them in the TOOT HOLD.

It's awfully hard to get out of that Toot Hold.
And awfully funny when you're in there.
Unless Uncle B. lets one go.
Then it's not funny any more.
At all.

Lilly loved some time with her Auntie Karen.

And after all that fun and frivolity, we packed up the car again, and drove across town to our next round of Christmas celebrations.
We spent Christmas afternoon with Aaron's family.
We opened presents, and had Christmas dinner together.
And before the sun even set, Lilly was asleep, utterly spent from sickness (the Curse got her too) late nights and full days.
She was a basket case.

I didn't get one picture of the afternoon.

It was chaos control with my kids by that point.
Christmas fun can get a little overwhelming.
But still, a lot of good memories were made.
And I am kind of loving looking back now, mid January, when it already feels like a year has passed.
Merry Christmas!
Love from,
Greta