Christmas Evening

Christmas Day..evening, we gathered at Grandma McKinley's house. We ate snacks and opened gifts.

The younger grandkids received cute Band-aids from Grandma. What kid doesn't LOVE Band-aids???

Each couple received DoTerra essential oils.

Thanks Mom!

Older grandkids received a Nutella snack.

Then it was Grandma McKinley's turn to open gifts.

A picture of Grandma Ison, from Brinton and Amber, brought sweet memory tears.

The purple sign was from Lexie and Tyrel..perfect color, perfect saying.

Tyrel was trying to impress us with his bushy beard growing skills.

Our family gave Grandma a journal...but not just an ordinary journal.

I repurposed a childhood Little Golden Book (had my mom's name written on the inside cover) and a clearanced journal. Took the pages out of the book and took the cover off the journal and bound them together (get it?). A journal blast from the past.

Happy Christmas!!!

Christmas Day

After church, we changed our clothes and ate lunch. Then it was FINALLY time to open our remaining presents.

We did something a little different this year. I wanted our focus to be on service and Christ...and less on getting and gifts. Jason and I agreed that each person would receive 3 gifts; a gift of "wonder", a gift of "usefulness" and a gift of "meaning".

I also focused more on the wrapping of presents, since I would have less to wrap. I used cute brown paper wrappings, white yarn pom-poms, unique tags and cute ribbon. It was fun to have cute presents under our tree. :)

I should clarify...everyone's gifts were wrapped except for Treyson's. Treyson had snooped in my closet and found one of his gifts. So instead of lecturing or punishing, I chose NOT to wrap his gifts. I tied a bow and label each one and put them under the tree. He could see all that he was getting. It was interesting to see that he wasn't that excited about opening gifts this year. Wonder if he'll have the desire to snoop again. Time will tell. :)

I like our new 3 gift tradition, but I'll have to say, there was a little bit of an adjustment. Honestly it was a little hard for Jason and I to narrow down gift giving to only 3 gifts...but it was good. The kids went along with it. They were a little confused at first, but they enjoyed what they got.

We tried to get things they REALLY wanted/needed, instead of lots of little things just because they were a good price/on sale. Less trinket-y... more sustenance... I think.

We will continue this tradition, but possibly make some adjustments along the way.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning, when we started hearing rustling, I got up and put breakfast in the oven.

Our Christmas morning breakfast usually includes sweet rolls (orange or cinnamon) and orange juice. This year I decided to add to our tradition... "Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole". It not only has eggs and ham, but 3 different kinds of cheeses...including CREAM CHEESE! Yum.

We brought the breakfast upstairs to the family room where the kids had been sleeping.

We ate our mini cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole and orange juice as the kids anticipated what Santa had brought downstairs.

When breakfast had been cleaned up, the kids got into the traditional line-up-- youngest to oldest, and came downstairs.

As the kids filed into the room, they each went to their own stockings. Jason, Grandpa and I wondered when they would notice the family gift sitting on the coffee table. We waited and waited.

Finally Treyson said, "Hey, what's this hamster food for?" (by his stocking).

I said, "Hmmm, maybe it's for that" (pointing to the cage).

Santa had brought our family a cute little dwarf hamster! There was squeals of excitement and a rush to the hamster cage to check her out.

Grandpa Waite got a BSU Coach Chris Peterson bobble head.

Rylee was in LOVE with the hamster! She played with it ALL morning, including chasing it when it escaped from the exercise ball accidentally. She didn't need any other gift in the world. She was content with this cute little addition to our family.

The hamster was named Nibblet, after much discussion and consideration.

The "aftermath" of Christmas morning.

Look how cute we are with our new Christmas clothing. :)

In the evening, we headed to Grandma McKinley's house for dinner and gifts.

Sterling sporting his reindeer hat.

Grandma had outdone herself. We had baked ham, rolls, a variety of salads and lots of snacks and treats to enjoy.

Tyrel & Levi

I finally got to hold sweet little Sterling. I had been keeping my distance, up to this point because I wanted to make sure I was healthy and that he was stronger. He was such a sweet little bundle!

We all opened gifts from one another. Our giving "theme" this year was food storage and/or emergency preparedness. We received a box of cream soups and the book (and workbook), "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey, from Brinton and Amber. Thanks!

I've read the book, going on 3 times ,and have enlisted Jason to read also. This is good.

We enjoyed our books from Grandma and many started reading right away. :)

A wonderful day, filled with family, fun and giving.