Christmas Morning

Santa brought Taylor the curling iron she has always dreamed of--she was SO excited!

I really didn't get many pictures of Christmas morning this year. We kept things pretty simple and tried hard to buy valuable gifts, instead of just buying to buy. Each child received 3 gifts: a need, a want and a treasure. And Santa came through too!

Grant mesmerized with his Monster Truck and all the stocking goodies. Each year the stockings are filled with fun little trinkets, peanuts with the shells and an orange. It's tradition!

Taylor's "treasure" gift was her own set of scriptures with her name imprinted on them. What a life-long treasure these will be...
If you look closely you can see the necklace that Kennedy gave Taylor. It's a BFF necklace in a set with one for herself too. I have to say that was the cutest, sweetest gift of Christmas this year. The fact that Kennedy wanted to wear BFF necklaces with her sister was so cute. I tell them all the time that their sisters will be your best friends their entire life---BUT I never thought they were listening. I got a little teary!

Kennedy was so excited to get the game she requested. She had never played it before, but had seen some commercials about how amazing it was! Oh, commercials.

Tim spoiled me by getting me the iPhone. I am pretty clueless with how to use it, but have to admit that is definitely something I would not have gotten myself, but love it. I made a year's worth of dates for Tim in a big envelope. We will be glad to have something planned this next year! However, not as cool as an iPhone :)

Something that I loved about this Christmas season was the fact that we were able to stay home and make some of our own traditions. Even though it was a little different to be away from Grandparents and cousins, we made wonderful memories on our own. We are growing up!

We did the 12 days of Christmas: Service Edition this year. Our family came up with 12 simple ideas to serve others and try hard to put the focus on the true meaning of Christmas. The kids really got into it and each night became a memorable experience. Some of the ideas we had were: tying a fleece quilt for someone (the girls did all the tying!), doing an Angel Tree tag @ WalMart, picking up trash in the neighborhood, making treats for the neighbors on our entire court and delivering them, donating some of our toys and clothes to Goodwill, collecting our change for the Salvation Army bell ringer--This was fun to surprise them with; lots of pennies!), passing out candy canes at a retirement home and lots more.

I love to visit Retirement Homes / Care Homes etc. There is just something so rewarding and enriching about talking to older people. They have such wisdom and most are sweethearts that just want to be noticed. We brought 12 candy canes to pass around and used them to nudge our way into conversations. We met some really sweet people on Christmas Eve that looked rather lonely. Whenever I do something like this I like to stand back and watch and listen to Tim. He is so cute at creating conversation with strangers and making them feel good about themselves and cheering them up. My kids came away from this night feeling the spirit of Christmas.