Christmas eve we attended church at 5pm, when we arrived the church was packed and we ended up sitting in back of the choir up in the balcony right by the huge pipe organ. Believe it or not both kids ended up falling asleep during the service and woke to the singing of Silent Night as each person lit their candles and raised them in the air. The kids knew that we were going to open all the presents from family and friends when we arrived home so their excitement grew. The kids opened their presents one by one as we snacked on shrimp cocktail and cheese ball and crackers and fudge and all the other goodies given to us. They each got a Leapster, a green one for Luke and a pink one for Lily. They had not asked for these so they were not sure what they did until we were able to get them charged up, now they don't go anywhere without them. Luke got a Starwars helmet with voice changer and new light sabers, Lily got a marble maze; over 120 pieces for Daddy to put together complete with two motors to carry the marbles back up to the top. We discovered this year that the toys requiring assembly do not come with written directions. They only have sketches of the finished product, Daddy spent several hours putting this together and ended up with a few extra pieces.
At 8pm Lily turned to Luke and announced that it was time to go to bed or Santa would not be stopping at their house! They both ran to their beds (first time in history) to go to sleep.
Christmas morning I was awakened by an excited Lily announcing that the reindeer had left a small piece of carrot but the cookies and milk were gone. She did not know that Tobi the dog managed to wolf down one cookie before the plate was moved. The kids had first run into the study and took down their stockings from the fireplace. After digging through the oranges, gum, puppets, play dough and flashlights they walked out to the kitchen only to discover that Santa had left presents under the tree! Luke got the power ranger toys he wanted and Lily got a horse and doll to go with it named "Lily Anna." As it became light out (we woke up at 5am) we noticed that there was about an 1" of clean, white snow on the ground, just the perfect touch for Christmas morning.
John made the traditional ham biscuits and our sodium intake was complete for the week! Later in the morning Aunt Kim and Aunt Michelle stopped by to visit. The kids opened their present to find two laser tag guns. Yes, I am very antigun.....but Luke creates guns from whatever he finds anyway. At least with laser tag there is nothing flying through the air but a light beam. Fun for adults too I might add. Towards the end of their visit Steven, Whitney and baby Audrey arrived for Christmas lunch.
We all enjoyed ham, cheesy potatoes, ramen noodle salad, cream cheese corn, broccoli with cheese, rolls and date nut bars for dessert. Baby Audrey got to eat without clothes to prevent spills on her beautiful Christmas dress. Later in the day Logan joined us to open his presents. In all a very fun and busy day for all.
The next day we decided to brave the cold and head for Silver Dollar City. We saw the show "A Christmas Carol" at the opera house and although I have seen it several years in a row now, it never gets old. The kids enjoyed the flying ghosts and soap bubble snow that rained down over the audience at the end. We ended the night with great BBQ from Danna's restaurant in Branson, our favorite place to eat.
A Chilly Day at Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City Snowbunnies
Luke creates cookies master pieces
Cookies made with Love
Silver Dollar City Snowmen (and girl)
1 comment:
I can't believe the kids got leapsters!! How funny- Vivi and Tonito each got one from Santa too (also green and pink). His elves must have been busy this year in the tech dept. They were *great* for the 23 hour drive down to Mexico!!!:) What games do you have? Vivi;s came with a princess game and Tonito's with a kindergarten readiness game. We'll talk soon!
Post a Comment