Christmas in Pictures

We went to our church's Christmas Eve service. The kids were supposed to take their picture with Santa while we were there...you can see that one kid chickened out...

Before we go to bed, we have to sprinkle reindeer food so Santa's reindeer can have a snack while they wait.

Every Christmas morning we take a picture of Grace in front of the tree and presents. It was such a blessing to see Jackson in front of the tree with his big sister!

Sweet Gracie helped Jackson open the first present of the morning. He got a fun developmental toy from Santa! It lights up and plays music. The toy was a good choice to open first because it kept him entertained for quite a while as his sister opened her presents.

There's the toy in front of him. It's a snail with a ladybug on its back. I'm not sure what Jackson is looking at though...

Another tradition we have is to take a picture of Gracie surrounded by her presents. Next year we'll be sure to get one of Jackson and his presents too. =)

Gracie got a LalaLoopsy Doll from Santa. She has been wanting one of these for a lllloooonnnnggg time! I put it off because, frankly, I find them creepy!

Rod (our pug) is 12 years old and not doing well. We aren't sure if he'll still be with us next Christmas, so I had to get a picture of Drew and Rod together. After all, Rod was Drew's companion long before I was!

Memaw loved the picture wreath that I made for her. It features pictures of all of her grandkids by Shawna Hansen Photography (local) and Lizzie Bee Photography (based in Arizona).

My cousin Karen joined us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Jackson is already getting the hang of this present opening business!

Rip it open, little guy!

This is one of the gifts that Gracie made for me in her Preschool class. It's a snowman necklace. Can you tell how proud she is?

Christmas dinner was a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner. I love turkey with all the fixins!

My mom gets the unpleasant task of carving the turkey

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Of course, the men found a football game on tv.

Christmas was such a blessed day. It's honestly my favorite holiday, not because we get to open presents, but because of what Christmas means - family, rest, and, most importantly, the birth of Christ. I hope you all had as great a day as we did!