Four Christmases

James started his Christmas Festivities on the Tuesday before Christmas. He went to his Aunt Gail's house. He got a new fishing pole and tackle, a pellet gun, a new camo coat, and a few other goodies. Then he came home Friday to start our Christmases.
Gene got home Saturday afternoon and we got ready to head over to the in-laws. We always have a blast on Christmas Eve, especially watching the kiddos open all their presents. We tried to get a group picture, but with 8 grand kids, that is no easy task!

We had a scrumptious dinner of ham, brisket, potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, corn, and plenty of desserts! We then sat all the kids down and let them open 1 present at a time so we didn't miss anything. Here's my MIL trying to explain this concept to the kids :)

We always play Dirty Santa after the kids open their gifts. We ended up with gift certificates to Logan's and Louie's. I can't wait to try out Louie's! It was nice to spend time with everyone, since we don't get to see them that often!

When we got home, we always let James open 1 gift (always jammies) and his stocking. He got some cool Diary of a Wimpy Kid pants and a robe (which he loves!) His stocking was just his ornament and candy.

Then we all got in our comfy clothes and got ready for bed. Well James did anyhow, Gene and I stayed up to watch movies and visit with each other.

My boys on Christmas Eve

We already had all of James' gifts under the tree, except for his bike. That was his Santa gift. Now, this year he's decided that Santa isn't real. I don't know if the bike changed his mind about that, but he can expect 'Santa' gifts from now until he's 42...at least! James woke up before us and we slept on the couch so we wouldn't miss his reaction to everything. I heard him coming down the stairs and woke up when I heard him coming. I asked what he thought about the bike and he said he thought he'd seen that ribbon bow before. And he'd be right....this momma should have sprung for a new bow LOL. He got the bike, some new clothes, movies, a DS game, a skateboard type thing, and his big gift was the Nook. A lot of his friends have them or are getting them for Christmas, so I thought it would be perfect for his 'big' gift. He opened it and played with it non-stop over Christmas weekend. Starting tomorrow, we will be reading books on it, since school is starting back up. He told us this has been his best Christmas yet! I love hearing that!

My new bike from Santa :)

My new Nook Color!

I went ahead and downloaded Angry Birds for him. Also Netflix, and a couple of books.

The next day, we headed to my momma's for Christmas over there. She prepared a huge dinner, like she always does and it was yummy! We never go hungry when we're over there! I got some new pans, Gene got a Garmin for his truck and little boy got some sweatshirts, and the Angry Birds board game. He loved it all. We kind of made fun of my Grandma a little bit, because she had the biggest pile of presents. I individually wrapped everything we got her, which totalled about 4-5 things. I love my Grandma!



I still haven't put up our tree or anything yet. I've been so busy in our office this weekend trying to get all our paperwork in order and filed away and get stuff ready for tax time. That's another post, but we did take a time out to put up together the gingerbread house. I had bought it weeks ago, and just forgot about it. I put the house together and James decorated. I think it looks great!

Well, we have certainly been blessed this Christmas. James had Four Christmases this year. He's a lucky little boy and we love him with all our heart. Even though he received a lot of toys and fun stuff, we still remind him that Christmas is about Jesus' birth and giving. I think next year we'll do an Angel Tree or something like that. I don't want him to forget that not everyone is as lucky as he is. He's clean, healthy, well-fed, educated and that's plenty. Anything extra is just that much more to be thankful for!