Christmas is here!  We have had a wonderful 48 hours together with family.  The kids were so excited.   It was a busy couple of days, but today made it all worth it.  Here are the highlights:

-Tom’s dad arrived Friday and stayed for the week.

-Tom and I decided to demo our master bath and have a friend re-tile the floor and shower while we are in Pennsylvania.  We have been tearing about the bathroom for days and it is finally down to the studs.  I can’t wait to see how gorgeous my new bathroom is going to be.  Don’t worry….there will be a blog post about it.

-Tom and I served/deinered at the Lovefeast on Christmas Eve at Little Church.

Faith and Wilson got to be Mary and Joseph in the church play during the children’s Christmas Eve service….

-Doug, Jacqueline, Gabriel and Shepherd drove down to Charlotte to spend Christmas with us.  The kids were all very excited to be together once again.

Of course, we had to get our family picture next to the Christmas tree after the service…

The kids opened up their gifts on Christmas morning.  We give them each three gifts and a stocking.  Jesus got three gifts and so will they.    Wilson’s big gift was a new scooter, since he was always riding Faith’s pink one.  Miller picked out his own gifts this year and then helped me wrap them.  It was great!  He is so hard to shop for since he doesn’t really play with too many toys.  Miller liked the candy in his stocking the best.  He ate all of it right away.

-Faith got lots of American Girl Doll items for Christmas.  I have had a doll that was given to me years ago stored away for her.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the doll she wanted.  I have known for weeks that this wasn’t the one she wanted but was hoping that it wouldn’t matter once she opened the doll….wrong. Now I am going to sell Ivy (the one on the bottom bunk) and buy the one she wants, Rebecca.  Tomorrow we will be going to the store to get the one she wants – it is Christmas and I want to give her the gift of an American Girl doll that she gets to pick out herself.  Amazingly enough, I put the Ivy doll on Craigslist and eight hours later it was sold.    I love how the Lord just works out all of the details….

-We went to Lisa’s house for Christmas brunch (it is tradition).  I love going over there for breakfast.  That is what really makes it feel like Christmas Day.  Here is the whole gang…

We went to my parent’s house for a steak dinner tonight.  It was delicious and it rounded out the day perfectly.  Christmas is a time for being with loved ones and being thankful for all that the Lord has given us, especially His Son, Jesus.  It is hard to stay focused on what is really important at Christmas time – Jesus’s birthday, but we did it.  Yes, we opened gifts, but they were secondary to the fun that we had together as a family.  I am thankful everyday for the many, many blessings that have been given to me and my family.  Happy Birthday, Jesus!