Our Christmas Day story....

I'll warn you ahead of time...this post is LONG because of all the pictures I put into it...so, when it keeps going and going...you were warned :0)!

Well, we woke up Christmas morning to cold temps and blowing snow. As Marion and I were laying in bed reminising about Christmas' past, I reminded him that Nathan's Christmas present was outside in the garage still and SOMEONE had to go get it! ;0) Shortly after that, the kids woke up and were BEGGING to open presents! Not really wanting to go out in 10 degree weather that felt subzero, Marion tried to stall, but the kids' wouldn't cave...so out went Marion, all bundled up to get Nathan's gift! When he came in, Marion said, "I'm sure glad we aren't traveling in this today!" Little did we know how true that statement would be!

Now, as you will see in the following pictures, we had to be creative with Nathan's gift so that there would be SOME surprise, so I made all the kids sit in the living room while Daddy brought the 'wrapped' present in:

Okay..so it wasn't THAT creative... but it was still good enough that he didn't know what it was IMMEDIATELY...he actually was surprised when he lifted the back part of the blanket and saw the wheel!

Here is Nathan with his NEW bike!

Now...before we go on to the other kids' presents...I just have to tell you that Nathan got on his bike IMMEDIATELY and wanted to ride it around the house! The first go around, Daddy helped him along to make sure he didn't run in to anything, but after that, he got pretty good at manuvering around the house on his bike! I got some video of that and might try to post it later on!

The other notable thing that happened is that my 4 year old son...is now very convinced he NEEDS to have a ramp so that he can jump mud puddles...mostly so that his new bike won't get dirty! He brought this topic up at breakfast Christmas morning and has argued the point many times since! Like I said in the Christmas letter...Nathan is ALL boy...always on the move...and will probably be the first to bring grey hairs to Mommy's head! :0)

Well, after Nathan got his bike we moved on to Jonathan. Now, Jonny's gift was something I had tried to pick that was TOTALLY unique! We have so many difficulties with older brother confiscating Jonny's toys that I wanted something we would CLEARLY know was Jonny's! So, this is what he got:In case you can't tell what it is from the pictures, he got a beginners Thomas the Train set...the kind that has magnetic hook ups on a wood track! As you'll see later...he loves it! And YES, we have been struggling with big brother wanting to take it...but at least we have a clear definition of what is JONNY's!

After Jonny came Abigail's present and to be rightly honest, Mommy was very excited to give her her gift! I was also very excited that I caught her experssion when she realized what it was:

NOW...isn't that just a GREAT expression! She was exclaiming "CAMERA!" Yes, my five year old got her first digital camera! And it isnt' a kiddies camera...but an inexpensive real one. She has been 'using' Mommy's camera for a long time and I finally decided it was time she had one for herself! I can't tell you HOW many times I've went to use mine and it's been full or the batteries dead because she LOVES taking pictures!

As proof of this, Abi had taken over 200 pictures and 3 videos within the first HOUR of having the camera...during the duration of the day, she went through THREE sets of batteries (which I had anticipated and had purchased extras for)! As part of a special deal, I got a 2GB SD card for free and I think she about has it full! She has been VERY good about obeying the rules and so far she always puts it back when she's done...I told her if I found it on the floor, Mommy would take it away...I think this will be a GOOD lesson in responsibility!

Moving on to Marion...I tried to be sneaky with his gift cuz I thought he 'knew' what he was getting! So, I took the big box that Abi's gift came in and put a bunch of packing in it with his gift...the next series of pictures is funny...he really put his head IN the box looking for his gift! :0)

He got a watch...something he was need very badly! It is waterproof and has the indiglo feature and hopefully will last him longer than his previous watches have!

Now, if you are wondering "where is Melanie's gift?" It is still in transit. This year, Marion decided I needed something to help organize my clothes better. I haven't had a dresser or chest of drawers since before we had Abi...at first, I could handle hanging all my clothes up in the closet, but with 3 kids and another on the way, that just isn't feasible anymore. So, we went looking and he bought me a new chest of drawers! I am very excited to get it, but it shouldn't arrive until after the new year cuz we had to order it! But, here is a scanned in pic of what it looks like:

I really wanted somthing that had doors and shelves as well as drawers cuz with a baby coming, I might only be able to use one hand at a time and didn't want to have to wrestle with double pull drawers...this will be perfect...THANKS HONEY...I love you!

Now...as I said, this post is gonna be LONG cuz now we have some fill in pics for you! The first pic here is of Jonny playing with his train set...he was so excited about it, he brought it to breakfast and to get dressed for the day!

Next is just a breakfast pic...Christmas morning...since Marion commented about not having a pic of the Christmas Eve snackies....I guess I decided to post breakfast instead! :0) You'll note Nathan is NOT at the table...he was too busy riding his bike!

Here is a picture of the kids all dressed up and ready for church Christmas morning!

Yes, we did venture out for the Christmas service! Marion put the van as close to the door as he possibly could for me and we loaded the kids up! It was blowing and snowing, but really didn't seem THAT bad. When we got to the church, Abi slipped and fell twice trying to get into the church, so then she walked with me in the parking lot where there was a little more snow for grip! There was actually a good turn out but by the time the service was over the storm (later classified as a blizzard) was getting worse so we headed back home straight away!

Here is a shot of Nathan on his bike in his Christmas clothes...Marion thought it was a good picture!

When we made it home, we sat down to a nice Christmas dinner (after Marion finished feeding the cows) and once again he commented on taking a picture...so here is our dinner AFTER we had eaten!

We enjoyed a relish tray of black olives, pickles, carrots, and celery; ham; mashed potatoes; pistachio salad (a tradition from my Grandma Converse); rolls; stuffing; and green beans! As we sat around talking, we realized that this was the FIRST Christmas ever that we have only had OUR family for Christmas dinner! Usually my mother is here visiting and with Marion's parents just a few miles away we usually get together with them as well. Though we missed having the family around, it was kinda nice to just have our little family together.

Well, I hope you all had a great and blessed Christmas as well and look forward to hearing your stories as you get time to share them!