Christmas at Our House

 "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

We woke up the morning of December 24th, excited about the possibility of opening our presents from Mama and Daddy.  After we all did our devotions Daddy said we could open presents!

The first presents we opened were the ones we had given to each other.  Since the beginning of December we had put the names of 9 of us (Lydia and Judah being too young to participate) into a hat and everyone drew out a name.  The name we drew was to be our person for the month of December.  We were to do as much as we could for that person without him/her finding out who their person was.  Then, the week of/before Christmas we went shopping for that special person, buying what we thought they would enjoy.  On our Christmas morning, everyone would get to open the present from their person and have to guess who their person was.  It's a fun little way of remembering that Christmas isn't about getting but giving! :)

The youngest opened their present (from their special person) first, continuing until Daddy.  I have no pictures of Caleb, Seth, Eden, and Josiah opening presents 'cause I was holding Judah-man. :)

I was Lexi's "person" and she was so excited about the fake nails I got her.  She has wanted fake nails for a long time and she got me to put them on her an hour or two after she had opened her presents! :)

This is the face I got when I enthusiastically told Hannah "Wow, Hannah...I love what you did with your hair!"  She wasn't impressed. :)

Hannah's "person" was Caleb and he bought her tons of food!  And I mean TONS!  Cakesters, Klondikes, Sun Chips, Pickles, etc.  Hannah had said that she wanted lots of food and she definitely got it! :) :)

And as you can see, she was really happy about all the food!

Klondikes! :) :)

Mama's "person" was Seth and he made/bought quite a few things for her.

Daddy was next and, as is obvious, presents can have a weird effect on him! ;)

Showing off his card.

Yep, the flashlight works! :)

Josiah was Daddy's "person."

Once we were all done the first round of gifts it was time for the wise men sacks!!

To give a little review, Daddy and Mama put our Christmas presents in three burlap sacks to stand for the three gifts the wise men brought Jesus.  In theory, one sack contains "educational" gifts (books and movies!), another sack is filled with more fun stuff (like stocking stuffers) and the final sack is filled with more personal gifts.

There are the two wise men sacks!  Yes, I know, I said there were 3 but my parents couldn't locate the 3rd sack this year so the brown box on top of one of the sacks is the 3rd "sack!" :)

Daddy's present.

The 3rd wise men gift!

This year, instead of everyone tearing into the presents we went one-by-one which worked out much better.  The gift-opening lasted longer and we could see what everyone got! :)

The "educational" sack came first and inside were lots of goodies!!

Videos...

Narnia on audio...

...and books!!!

Caleb is really excited about the book he has because we have been looking and hoping we would get them for a few years.  They are the Faith and Freedom series by Douglas Bond.  We had read his Crown and Covenant series and loved them, so we wanted his other series.  (You do need to read his books carefully though because there is a good amount of Calvinism theology in some of them.)

"This is Dad's present."

When the first sack was emptied the next was opened!

The new Jonathan Park was a gift for the whole family that Josiah just happened to get to open!

Lydia got some clothes!

Josiah got a scooter (which he'll ride when his leg is completely better)!

I forgot what Eden got in her box...

Before I tell you what is in this box, I have to give you a little background.  For a few months Caleb had been going on and on and on and on and on and on and on about wanting to get his own "22" and how he just knew he was going to get one for Christmas.  Personally, hearing him talk about this at every meal was like, a little irritating. :)  Anyways, Caleb did get what he ranted on for months...

...and yes, a "22" stands for a gun! :)  

Caleb was so excited (and he did come close to crying...manly tears, of course)!

Lexi had the biggest box to open and inside were lots of art supplies!

I got a long-sleeve shirt with a horse on it and a book that I absolutely love:  Natural Horse-Man-Ship by Pat Parelli.  I absolutely love reading the book!  Hopefully when we get the horse, I will know what I need to do so that I can actually be a natural horse-woman! :)  It's exciting! :) :) :)  I've forgotten what else I got now...

Whoa, not a good face on my part!! Hannah

Hannah got her own key chain with the car and house keys on it.  She also got a brand new radio installed in "her car!"  When we were done opening presents she took us for a little ride on our road with her new keychain and radio! :)

Judah needed some bibs so that's what he got! :)

Mama opening her presents.

A Yankee candle - yeah! :)

The last sack was full of goodies: candy, lotions, face washes, bullets (for Caleb) and other fun stuff!

Daddy got some chocolate!

Some of the goodies.

As you can see, it didn't take long before the candy was opened and we all "taste-tested!" :)

So there you have our Christmas!

Christmas at my Na-naw's house will be up next!
Kimber :)

Christmas at Paw-paw and Na-naw's

"And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

Matthew 2:11

Christmas morning we headed over to my Paw-paw and Na-naw's house for a yummy breakfast, some presents and time with family.

Paw-paw's breakfasts are really looked forward to in our family!

Some of the family eating breakfast...

Aunt T.C. and Collin relaxing after breakfast.

Lexi and Allie.

When breakfast was cleaned up we all went to the dining room where the Christmas tree and presents were:

Aunt Steph and Uncle Sean.

Every Christmas morning at Na-naw's we read Luke 2 aloud before opening presents.  All the grandkids who can read get a turn reading a verse or two until the chapter is finished!

Once the chapter is finished, the presents are handed out!

Erika (a cousin) waiting.

Then Na-naw gives the word and we all rip into our presents: tissue paper is flying everywhere, kids are squealing excitedly...it's a nice time of havoc! :)

Eden got a puppy purse! :)

(Lydia also got one and she absolutely loves it!)

Aunt T.C. and Mason.

Me. :)

Aunt Amanda and Uncle Sean.

Happy brothers!

Mama reading a book Na-naw and Paw-paw gave Judah.

 A cowgirl hat for Weedles!!

Yeah!!

Gracie.

Christmas isn't complete without fun aunts...

 ...and smiling people! :)

Seth goofing off! :)

After the presents were opened we all relaxed and helped prepare lunch before more family came over.  Lunch was very yummy!  We had turkey, ham, potatoes and practically everything you would have at a Thanksgiving feast!

When the lunch was over, some of the family played Dirty Santa and then people began leaving.  Later that afternoon we went over to my Uncle Chris and Aunt M.G.'s house to visit and see G.G. (my great-grandma).   Uncle Chris, Aunt M.G. and their family live in a house on a lake and the lake was frozen.  So, I went out to walk on the frozen lake, joining Daddy, Caleb, Seth and Coley (my second cousin?) who were already on the ice.  It was snowing a little bit while I was outside so it made everything look like a winter wonderland and it was so much fun!

By the time we left their house and headed home it was snowing quite a bit and my prayer for a white Christmas was answered!  Once home we heated up some leftover lasagna and made some garlic bread and then camped out in the living room and watched a Christmas movie before bed.

It was a wonderful Christmas!

Kimber :)

P.S. - I have two more posts, Lord willing, on Christmas coming! 

And one more thing, thanks to Daddy for taking most of the photos in this post so I could open presents at the same time as everyone else.  You're the best, Daddy!