We had plans for the day after Thanksgiving, so our tree went up the day before this year...very early! As we were setting it up, we noticed that several of the lights on the tree no longer work.
(Nine years ago, when we first moved into our house, Jason spent all of Thanksgiving doing the math and finding the best number of lights on a pre-lit tree. He woke up at 4:30 a.m. the next day to go out and buy that tree. Yesterday, we left it outside with the yard trash, and the kids were very sad.)
We spent lots of time watching Christmas movies. Gemma especially loved Rudolph, and was very into reindeer this year! She also loved How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and every time she saw Cindy Lou Who, she said, "That's me!".
This year, we bought A Charlie Brown Christmas and watched it a few times. The big kids loved that it talked about the true meaning of Christmas, and Gemma really loved "Silly 'Noopy!"
Gemma was also all about Santa this year. Last year, she talked about him, but didn't want to sit on his lap. This year she ran right up to him all three times we saw him. Now, once she was up on his lap, she wasn't so sure and wouldn't smile much, but she definitely told him what she wanted - Presents! When he asked her the first two times, she said books and princesses. The third time, she kept saying she wanted a tiger.
Santa had a harder time with Kyran and Karyssa this year, but I think they were pretty happy with what they got.
We left Thursday to go see Jason's family for a couple of days. On Friday, we had our Christmas dinner and opened presents with them.
Doesn't everyone wrestle in front of the tree?
Eva shared her Princess Sofia dress with Gemma!
And Vance shared his gifts with everyone!
So much hugging!
Saturday morning, we left early for Harmony's house, where almost all of my family gathered for a little while. We had another dinner and more presents!
All 8 cousins on the Krolewicz side.
We got home that night in time to sprinkle the Grinch Dust (courtesy of Kyran's teacher), put out birthday cake and milk, read The Night Before Christmas and A Christmas Baby, pray, go to bed and wait for Santa.
The FB picture
One of the outtakes!
Christmas morning, Kyran and Karyssa woke up at 5:30, but waited patiently for Gemma to wake up at 7:45 before going downstairs to open presents. Jason and I actually woke up before Gemma did. We opened a few presents and ate breakfast, then headed to church.
First view! Gemma's so excited, she can't even look!
Of all the gifts Santa brought, I think their gifts to each other were their favorites!
After church, there was time for the rest of the presents (except Gemma, who wanted to enjoy each present thouroughly before opening the next one), and then we headed to my aunt Pam's house for our third Christmas dinner. Here, we celebrated with Ben and his kids, Alison and her family, Alison's parents and her brother and his family, cousin Rachel and her family, and cousin Lissa and her daughter. Pam and Rachel are Jewish, so the kids got to play Dreidel for the first time, too!
After Pam's, we came home to give Gemma a quick nap, then headed to a friend's house for a hay ride! Yes, it was 70 degrees here on Christmas Day, and it was perfect weather to be outside. We sang Christmas carols, and even got to take a picture on Santa's sleigh!
After the hay ride, we ate hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. It was the perfect ending to the day!
We are so thankful for our family, and that God sent his son to earth to save us all!
When she put on this dress, she asked, "Where are my gloves and my hat?"
My Santa Baby!
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