Christmas ~ 2011

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas from The Grief Family!

It's hard not to get excited about presents when they are coming in the mail or sitting under the tree for a long period of time. I had presents delivered here Thanksgiving weekend. I can handle them being around, but after a while I just really want to know what is in them! Thankfully the kids did well with not bugging (too much) about opening them.

The day finally came where the kids couldn't hardly stand it anymore! Grammy's gifts came and they were ready to be done waiting! I didn't mind if they opened the Grammy's gifts early, I just wanted to make sure that Grammy could Skype so she could see everyone open her gifts. I love Skype!

THANK YOU, GRAMMY!!! We all love all of our gifts!

THANK YOU, MOM!!!

I figured it would be ok to let the kids open any gifts that weren't from me and Jon.

THANK YOU, AUNT KRIS, UNCLE SCOTT, LEX, KORT, REILLY & ERIN!!

It has always been a tradition to let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve. The funny thing is that they don't all really know it is a tradition. Every year the kids would beg, all day long, to open one present and Jon and I would finally let them open one right before bedtime. The only stipulation is that I get to choose which gift. What they didn't realize (until Ben figured it out last year) is that is that it is the same gift every year!

Every year I would make Christmas jammies for each of them. That way, they could wear them to bed that night and look cute and Christmas-y for Christmas morning. The only difference with this year's gift was that I didn't make the jammies. It was a little bit less stressful for me and a little bit easier on the pocketbook. The saddest part of the whole thing is that the kids didn't even notice that their jammies weren't homemade. :( I guess that's just one of those things that meant more to me than to them. I would love to get back to the homemade jammies next year. Maybe it's just one of those things they will remember and appreciate when they're older.

Whether homemade or storebought, they still look adorable!

Once "the children were nestled all snug in their beds" Santa came!

(Apparently this is the only picture I took on Christmas morning. I just sat back and enjoyed the morning with my family!)

All three kiddos were thrilled with what they found when they got up! Sadly, Ben was up in the middle of the night and went to take a peek and ruined the dramatic effect that Jon and I were hoping for. :( Luke was still surprised!

Dinner was traditional and dessert was delicious! (I never managed to find the time or motivation to bake all of the usual cookies and candies, so this Chocolate Peppermint Roll was extra satisfying!)

What could be better than one day of Christmas celebrating? Two or three days! We had a few gifts arrive a little bit late, but the kids were just as excited to get them!

THANK YOU, UNCLE BRIAN & HALEY!

THANK YOU, AUNT BECCA, UNCLE NEIL & NOLAN!