MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Christmas has officially come and passed (thank goodness!) with lots of fun and memories. Santa surprised us by decided to come on Friday night after I got home from work and Troy was halfway home with the kids. It was a little close, but of course Santa pulled it off without a hitch.
The kiddos loved opening their stockings filled with socks, underwear, hats and gloves, make up, Build-A-Bear clothes and Wii games. They were so excited about their video games that it actually took them a little while to realize that we didn’t have a Wii to play the games on. Oren, who received Call of Duty, became so adamant that there MUST be a Wii to play his game on that he ended up finding the hidden present in two minutes or less.
We also played an awesome Christmas prank on Troy where Lana bought him a big bag of Kit Kats (his favorite candy) and the other two bought him new coffee mugs. We stuffed as many Kit Kats as we could inside the two mugs and then left a note inside the open candy bag saying “Sorry we ate the rest.” It turned out perfectly and Troy was full of laughter when he got pranked twice.
All the new gear–clothing, hats, shoes, a tiara–were shown off the rest of the weekend. We also experienced a few hiccups when Santa apparently did not get Oren the correct pair of jeans because they were super tight. And Bryn decided she suddenly didn’t like the color green until she was reminded that she loves Army green. <Insert obscenely large eye roll here.> Apparently the older they get, the more often you have to threaten to throw presents away.
Unfortunately since Santa made a very quick and unexpected stop, we didn’t have time to make cookies in time for his arrival. However, we made them anyway in time for Christmas Eve. I learned a very valuable lesson that night. Do not trust your 7-year-old daughter to properly space cookies. We ended up with a giant, square sugar cookie. But it worked, we loved it and the cookies were delicious.
Much to the dogs’ delight and the chickens’ disapproval, we got both a white Christmas Eve and a white Christmas. I love having snow on Christmas and I was even more excited that Troy did all the driving and I did not have to do any until I returned to work today. My snow princess, Artemis, was extremely happy to have cold snow to roll around in. While the chickens, and even the ducks, stayed inside the coop for the most part, they certainly enjoyed their Christmas meal.
I was extremely glad that the kids got to join us for Christmas Eve service, even if it was a long and exhausting day. I ran sound and Troy became the impromptu praise band leader. Then we were off to Grandma and Grandpa’s for dinner and stockings. By some miracle I was able to actually get all three of them to cooperate for a picture. This was good since Bryn ended up ripping her brand new Christmas dress wrestling around on the floor with her brother and sister.
Lana called us on Christmas so everyone could tell us what they got at their mom’s. While I realize that hearing their insane amounts of spoiled goodies is a necessary evil, none of it really mattered since I got to hear their voices on Christmas Day. I even got to Facetime with my oldest nephew, Ray, on Christmas Eve while we were at Troy’s mom’s.
The Wii was definitely the cause of the most excitement. The girls both love the dancing (and that’s also my favorite, let’s be honest). Oren is completely obsessed with Call of Duty even if he’s still getting the hang of it. Troy can’t get enough Netflix.
Unfortunately I discovered that, as I perused through our pictures, it looks as if I wasn’t even there. I assume most people will deduce that I am the one taking all the pictures. Thankfully we have our family photo, taken in November, to prove I exist. Oh well. I suppose there’s always hope that next year someone will snap a quick picture of me at Christmas so that there’s proof I was there.
chickensandtomatoes 
So much Joy! What a great time for all, even “invisible” you 😊.
LikeLike