All I Want for Christmas...

Last night we went to the Christmas Eve Service. It was beautiful. Jordan played Pachelbels's Canon in D Major and made me cry. Maya climbed from lap to lap, feeling very comfortable with her church family. The boys love the end of the service when the lights are dimmed and we sing Silent Night by candle light.


It was a lovely day. Grandma and Nanna came over early to open presents with us. Maya took a bag of chocolates out of her stocking. If that was all she got for Christmas, she would have been happy. She carried it around for the longest time. Then Riley opened up a whoopy cushion from Sarah. Maya thought the whoopy cushion was almost better that the bag of chocolates. Then she played with Christopher's lap harp. She got overwhelmed and stopped opening her presents. She has 3 more presents under the tree. We are saving them for her birthday party on Sunday.


Chris' favorite present was an ax. He's been using Matt's ax for a year. Matt thought it would be safer if Chris had an smaller ax. So he bought him one with a 24 inch handle and wrapped it up in a box with a piece of firewood. Riley got two new pocket knives, one for fishing and one for everything else. It's an Alaskan kind of Christmas. Matt was hoping for some coal so he wouldn't have to chop wood. Instead he got a cold.


I got everything we wanted, all four of our children under one roof, time with our family, and healthy parents. There is one more thing Chris wanted for Christmas: for his mom to get him to school on time. I guess I know what my next New Year's resolution is going to be.

Even our dog is a poser!

Our first gingerbread house from scratch. Frosting hides a multitude of architectural flaws.

The sun came out on Christmas Eve!

Maya shares her chocolates with Grandma.

Sarah's new pea coat. What a surprise!

Riley's stuffed pet snake. I'm glad I don't have to clean another tank!

You can't tell from this picture, but he's actually a very sweet boy.

Maya's favorite presents.

Maya shares her chocolates with Nanna.

In the afternoon we went over to Bill and Ly's house to visit.

We just watched Kung Fu Panda while I was blogging. You have to check out the special features. They show how a Chinese chef turns a ball of dough into hundreds of noodles simply by bouncing and twisting the dough over and over. It's so cool!