Christmas 2016

This Christmas break has been special. Magical. Everything a Christmas break is supposed to be. It has been filled with fun times with friends, trips to the movies (4 times!), lots of good things to eat, and lots and lots of relaxation. 

Every  minute has been wonderful but Christmas day was extra nice. 

We started our morning by reading the last part of our advent story - Jotham's Journey. If you haven't heard of this book before, it was awesome! Each night we would read a little part of Jotham's Journey starting the 4th Sunday before Christmas. It was quite the adventure that little Jotham went on and the kids really enjoyed it. Perfect way for our family to stay focused on what Christmas is really all about! 

After our story, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and then began to open our stockings. 

Caleb and Owen both purchased a few little things to go into the stockings this year and I honestly think they were more excited for us to find the things they placed in the stockings, than looking into their own. 

The best was when Mark and I both discovered gold coins at the bottom of our stockings from Caleb and then Owen said, "I still have one more thing in mine! I know what it is - gold coins!". Only when he pulled them out, they were lumps of coal instead. We all laughed and laughed at poor Owen but since the lumps of coal were made out of chocolate, he wasn't too upset. Caleb thought it was the perfect moment, of course!

We feasted on cinnamon roll cake - delish, if I do say so myself. 

We played some fierce games of Hearts. 

And then we loaded up the presents, some pies and salads and headed up to Dad and Mom G's house for Christmas with the family. The boys got to see their cousins. 

And their Aunt Molly and Uncle Bill. 

And their Grandma and Poppa Golter but I never did get a picture of them...

We ate a huge, yummy lunch first and then it was present time. The kids took turns wearing the Santa hat and passing out gifts. Sometimes the big, bearded kids would join in!

On a side note, can I just say how much I actually liked the beard? Mark has since had to shave it off until next November's fundraiser but I really enjoyed it while it lasted! 

We opened presents up one at a time, which is my favorite way of doing things. I love seeing what everyone gets and their reactions to their presents. A lot of thought goes into gift giving and I like to prolong the experience and enjoyment of it for as long as I can! 

Molly and I modeling the new hats mom picked out for us. 

We spent the rest of the day visiting, playing games, eating pie, and simply being together. 

Christmas 2016 was a blessed one indeed!