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We have a very delightful group of visitors this year for Christmas. Ben’s brother, Bret, and his wife, Shannon, and their kids drove down from Ohio and spent 10 days with us. We love company. The kids enjoyed every moment of playing with their cousins. Every one got along so, so well. Jax and Sadie were smitten with Derek and followed him everywhere. It warmed my heart.
We spent Christmas Eve at Mike and Sarah’s house with the family. Gramma didn’t come because she was sick. We also had Julie’s cousin’s family visit. We ate and ate and ate. The kids had fun playing on the trampoline, with the toys, and decorating some ornaments Sarah made. Then we acted out the Nativity. Marissa and Derek were the stars of the show. In fact, they were the whole show! The rest of the kids lacked focus or had stage fright. We had the cousins exchange gifts and then we headed home to prepare for Santa’s arrival. The kids were beyond thrilled! They were so excited this year! It was really fun to experience the excitement and anticipation through them.
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By happen chance I caught Ethan taking a picture of Sadie. She was posing perfectly!
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Bacon wrapped hotdogs drenched in brown sugar syrup, aka – premature death on a stick. But so tasty 🙂
Michael borrowed my camera and took 15 selfies. What a guy!
It was Christmas morning before we knew it! The kids were so excited to find that Santa had visited and eaten the cookies!
Jax and McKay asked Santa for a Mickey Mouse yo-yo. Jax had been asking for one for months. He was so excited to finally get it. Poor guy, though – it didn’t quite work as easily as he imagined it would.
As we were finishing opening presents Katelyn got sick. We had had the stomach flu the week before. After Katelyn got sick Derek started to, also. We felt SO bad that we shared our germs and even worse that the illness struck on Christmas morning. Bret and Shannon stayed at our house with their kids while we went down to my parents’ house to exchange gifts with them.
Sadie wrapped a few gifts on her own. This should read, “From: Mo, To: Mom” I thought it was a riot how she tried to sound out the words and that was the result 🙂
That face melts me like nothing in this world can. She is such a good, sweet little girl!
He loved his new bike! He rides it like a champ now.
We arrived back home in the early evening. We were pleasantly surprised to see Derek playing on the trampoline. Our kids were so happy to have their playmates back! It was great to have some time in the evening to chat with Bret and Shannon. They’re so easy to talk to and so pleasant to be around.
I always love Christmas. This Christmas was my favorite to date!
Shannon - Alicia! Thanks again for such a fun Christmas holiday. We had the best time being with all of you. I love all your pictures too. They turned out so much better than mine, especially the ones from Christmas morning. Would you mind emailing me the pictures you have of us included in this post? Our pictures of the Santa gifts all turned out blurry for some reason. Your’s are just beautiful. We miss you guys so much!