Landon spent 2 hours taking the fort down!! It was a Christmas miracle!
I made a pecan pie and the Oreo Ice Cream dessert.
We had snacks upon arriving at my parents' house, which was a good thing because I hadn't eaten anything before then.
The crazy girls all together and calm for one moment.
I made Adam and Amy take a 20 minute power nap because they were yawning at 4:00, this is the scene I found when I went to wake them--Andrew was lying on the floor next to the bed (apparently he'd been tickling Adam's feet a bit as well, too funny).
Andrew was beyond excited about opening presents so he got to open one long before anyone else did. It was the "Tinkerbell" dvd, which he wasn't very excited about. (It usually takes him a long time to warm up to a new dvd, so that one may end up being his favorite 6 months from now.)
Apparently covering my dad's mouth is a game that they play, but I'd never seen him do this before.
I always like to sit and read the Christmas letters my parents get because many of them are from families we knew growing up. There's one letter that always makes me feel a bit suicidal (because the family is full of freakish overachievers) but it's also the one I look forward to reading most.
Ahh, the very loud kids' table.
The very loud grown-ups' table.
My plate of goodness.
These scene as we gathered to open presents in the basement.
Andrew ended up receiving all these dvds.
I gave him this photo cube.
The kids were very happy with their loot.
It was pandemonium for awhile.
Randy and I hunkered together on the couch.
The genius tags Amy made!
My parents got a few gifts too.
Amy made gorgeous gratitude journals for
my mom, me, Lori and Robyn.
my mom, me, Lori and Robyn.
She layed out all the pages complete with dates through 2010, and bound the books herself. She's so freakin talented that it bugs me, but in a good way since I'm sometimes the recipient of her creativity.
And yes, I love being the huge one.
My parents gave all of the adults gift cards, woohoo!
Phew!
**What did you do for Christmas Eve?**
Comment Window Tidbit: I really need to get a pedicure. It's been 4 months since my last one, and my heels look like I've been using them for brakes (ala Fred Flintstone). It's a good thing I got 2 pedicure gift certificates for Christmas!
17 comments:
Thanks for sharing your family photos-it was so fun to see your family celebrating together.Will your Mom ever age? Happy New Year.
I love this.
Is that turkey on your plate??
I think the photo cube you made for Andrew is brilliant.
Amy's gift tags are totally brilliant! Wow. And the gratitude journal looks really beautiful.
How fun it must be for your parents to have their entire family in one place...
It's funny to see my mom comment...
Thanks for sharing your day. Great photos. The one of Andrew on the ground made me smile. *Good gift for him too.
Love the tag Amy made. Love the journal....
Sounds like a wonderful day!
Jaige and I went for a long walk on Christmas Eve and ended up at his advisers house for a while. It was nice to get out of the house together. I
p.s. I think it's rather amusing that you forced Adam and Amy to take a power-nap!
Also, woohoo on the pedicure certificates! Lucky girl.
Steven and Landon seem to be in the same boat with a harem of girls surrounding them. Steven does wish he had a brother (less than a year younger than him to be specific) but he reaps the benefits of only boy on a regular basis (golf, guns, all for him).
I like the photo cube you created.
Jill you document things so well and I appreciate you letting me having a look into your life through your documentations. Thank you.
Hello! It's funny, even though you're on the other side of the world, your Christmas looks much like ours - but how do you manage to get the children to wait until after dinner to open their presents? That's my ideal, but mine were up at 5.40am absolutely gagging to open them. There's no way I could hold them off til the afternoon :-(
I love that bed, and the bedding, with the kids on. It's dreamsome.
The cube is a brilliantly simple idea, and gift cards is always a happy balance for giver and receiver. Stress free!
Our Christmas Eve had Paul taking the girls to the Christingle service, while I stayed at home to manically finish wrapping gifts. I truly mucked-up my time-organisation this year. I'd have loved for us to have gone as a family, but as we mothers quickly find out, we can't be in two places, doing two things, at the same time - much as we try to.
a post full of goodness...super cute wrapping on a table full of presents, love that photo cube, those tabs are precious, those journals are fabulous, that photo of the girls is beautiful
Way to go on the photo documentation! I am so exhausted by the time we actually make it to Christmas Eve/Day that I end up with like 4 pictures (and they are always horrible too). I really need to work on that.
What a fabulous 24th! I believe Michelle documented mine pretty well. I always love having the family over - the more the merrier!
What a fun family-filled Christmas eve! I missed being at my parent's this year. Not enough to travel, but I am jealous that you get to be with all (?) of your siblings and parents at Christmas. I also miss that oreo peppermint dessert--my mom makes it and it's soooo good.
P.S. I love your dad and Andrew. Every post about them is so sweet. I hope he liked the photo cube.
Now, that beautiful stack of gifts is some pleasing eye candy! I love it!
Wow, that was a fort that was built to last! Well, I guess that's the point of a fort.
I love pecan pie. I call it sugar pie, because that's basically all it is. Mmm-mmm.
I want to play the 'cover someone else's mouth' game. Some people need a censor.
Ack! The holiday newsletters! The ones that make you feel the worst are the ones you look forward to the most! I think someone should host a newsletter exchange. I love the ones that you can call bullsnap on as well. Ah, tis the season.
Ok, next to stockings I love gift cards. To receive a gift card assortment? My goodness, I would die. It's like permission to go buy stupid things that you don't need (gift cards should never be used for practical purposes)! I love it!
Ok, my feet look hideous. 'Using them for brakes,' that's awesome.
I just got a pedicure today... and an hour massage on Saturday- not at all the norm for me, but I was in heaven!
Love feeling like I got to be at your Christmas Eve. Everything looks wonderful.. Ours was very very good, but I kinda wish I was part of your family too. :) What a great group!
And I LOVE that you got a comment from Amanda:-)!! Haven't heard a thing from her in a long time!
Oh! And I agree with Mitzi... will your mom ever age?! :)
jill i am sitting her crying...
this has been the loneliest holiday on record.
i feel such a sense of jealously (embarassed to admit, but doing it anyway) seeing these photos.
we did very little and were all alone for the holidays i am just counting down the days until we moved and live closer to family, yet i still don't know if this would be possible.
Ha we always have a couple family newsletters that we look forward to as well. Some of them just make me shake my head.
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