Whew!

Wow.. the last few days have been busy.

Christmas Eve day was spent wrapping and baking. I managed to bake everything I wanted to. I had bought little Christmas chinese take-out style boxes so I filled them with treats and Sam delivered them to our neighbours. He was so excited to do it. I have blogged a couple of times before about a couple in our church that is challenging us to reach out to our neighbours and coworkers to develop relationships with them. I've been trying to do that, little by little. I was happy to box up the treats but was way too shy to deliver them. Thank goodness that Sam was so willing.

Yep... I'm shy. I bet you didn't know that.

We headed over to our church for the children's service and it was very enjoyable. We went along a "journey" of three dramatic scenes; when the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, a scene where the angel appeared to the shepherds and then a scene with the wise men. Towards the end, all the scenes came together at the front of the sanctuary. So much work and detail went into the whole service. I really liked it.

This was Jordan's outfit for Christmas Eve...



She hates wearing her dress shoes and kicks them off constantly. Well, Ian found this darling little outfit, and with it came the tights...and the "shoes" are part of the tights. HA Jordan! She spent a lot of time trying to kick them off before giving up.

We ditched the hairband in this next picture because a) she has very little hair and b) hairbands on babies with no hair is lame. I have seen so many babies with crazy ones on their heads with huge bows and flowers on them and the poor kid looks ridiculous!



She was happier without it.

After dinner, Mom gave each of the grandchildren a gift to open: new pjs! Then we sat in front of the fire while Sam and Julie read T'was The Night Before Christmas. So precious.

When we got home we checked Norad's Santa Tracker and Santa had just arrived in Newfoundland. Sam was rushing us along while reminding us that there weren't many provinces between us and Newfoundland. We put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer, and off to bed they went. Ian and stayed up for a bit longer before heading up ourselves.

The children were at me about what time we were going to wake up on Christmas morning. Last year we got up at 4am!

!!!

This year I put my foot down and said no earlier than 6am. Even that hour came too early! We all made it downstairs by 6:20 and an hour later the children were still opening their gifts! They were spoiled once again.

It's Ian's fault. ;-)

Ian ordered a lovely throw blanket for me, with our family picture on it...



I cried when I saw it! I am in love with it and can't stop looking at it. He also bought me Season 4 of LOST on Blue-ray and a ton of books! Looking at each book, I could see how he had put so much thought and care into each selection. I was floored. Sam and Julie made me a bookshelf and decorated it with encouraging words of love and some artwork, and it holds all my new books.

We headed back to Mom's for breakfast and to exchange gifts there. Too much activity for Jordan, so she just....



We went home for a few hours so the children could play with their new gifts and to have a little rest. I laid down with Jordan and we napped for a bit together, then we headed back to Mom's for a lovely turkey dinner.

The best part was when the children brought out a birthday cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to Jesus...



I think we all fell into bed that night, completely pooped from the day's events.

Boxing Day we woke up to get the house in order for Ian's parents as they were coming for lunch. Julie worked so hard helping me to get things ready for our lunch. She rolled all the cold cuts, arranged the veggies and dip, helped with the shrimp salad and made Skor Squares for dessert. Then she laid everything out on the coffee table so we could eat "buffet style". She was so cute as she puttered around with her apron on!

My inlaws stayed for a few hours then headed home. They are leaving tomorrow to spend the next three months in Myrtle Beach, SC. Nice life!

Ian took the children out to use the gift cards they received for Christmas and then to the movies to see Bedtime Stories. Jordan and I hung out at home, enjoying the quiet. We had my world famous beef stew for dinner and then enjoyed chocolate fondue for dessert.

Currently "the boys" are playing Nerf dart tag and I am right in the way, so I'll sign off for now.

I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as I had!