Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve - what a wonderful time we always have. We started off with some shrimp cocktail partnered with my mom's delicious cocktail sauce that can not be duplicated. Next came the filet mignon, Caesar salad, cream corn, rolls and plenty of Martinellis. This meal continues to be my favorite meal of the year! Since the kids are all so small and have attention spans to match, we have made some adjustments to our Christmas Eve program. This year Grandpa used the wooden nativity pieces as he told the story of our Savior's birth and the kids really enjoyed placing each piece in the manger. He also read the book "God Bless Your Way", a book about a man named Micah who traveled to Bethlehem at the same time as Mary and Joseph. Savannah, Xander, and Noah opened their new Christmas jammies and then it was off to bed for the little ones. The adults finished wrapping gifts while watching A Christmas Story.



Learning about the night our Savior was born.



New jammies for Christmas. Poor Noah wasn't too thrilled but little did we know that he had been bit by the stomach flu bug and was not feeling well at all.

It's tradition - what would Santa and his reindeer do if we didn't leave cookies, chocolate milk, and carrots for them?

Christmas morning...waiting to go down to see what Santa left us.

Savannah received ANOTHER Build-a-Bear...this one was a Pink Leopard!

Xander got two more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...or as he calls them "Ninja Turtle Frogs".

The annual gift of a beef stick for Ryan...

and some reference to David smelling. (David doesn't really smell...it's just a reference to the Michigan football team "stinking". I really don't want to go into any further explanations.)


Xander got a Darth Vader light saber from Grandma and Grandpa. He was absolutely thrilled because, although it's hard to admit, Xander prefers the siths in the Star Wars movies and has now joined the dark side of the force. He reigned terror on the house for the next few days.