The big reveal. David was speechless. SPEECHLESS. He was frozen with shock and joy and awe. (I guess it's pretty exciting when Santa brings you what you had so little hope of getting that you didn't even put it on your list.) Mary was the opposite of speechless. She was bouncing around with delight and joy and narrating all of it. And Sara was like hey now what is going on? But she got down to the business of playing and eating candy pretty fast.
Mary immediately baked us muffins in her new oven while Daddy and David fooled around with electronics.
The muffins were delicious!
Sara agreed.
(Mary has baked us muffins every single day since she got her oven and baking supplies. Best Christmas gift ever!)
After checking out what Santa delivered, having breakfast, and getting dressed, this crew was ready to tackle the pile under the Christmas tree.
I made them pose for a few pictures in front of the Christmas tree.
No fuzzy jammies this year--though Mary and Sara have three pairs of matching footie pjs--because it was too warm. Warmish and humid and dreary and rainy. (Yuck!) But the joy of sharing Christmas with these kids more than made up for the gloomy weather.
They were more than ready to open presents. As youngest, Sara, went first. She naturally chose the biggest one first.
Christmas is so fun with kids! What a great day. David, Mary, and Sara were delighted by the fun, thoughtful, generous gifts they received.
I think my favorite moment of Christmas may have been when Sara opened her road, and....
...David spotted it, and...
immediately jumped in to join her, both of them vroooming and screeeching away. (Video here.)
Fun times...
Look at what Mary made for me and and Greg:
Yes, it was a lovely morning...
Later that afternoon we had a short visit from Grammy and Grandpa along with Uncle Daniel (Greg's brother), Aunt Brittany, and Little Cousin Nathan. Hooray!
David, Mary, and Sara with Grammy and Grandpa and Cousin Nathan.
We opened more gifts and enjoyed our annual Christmas Day Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer picnic. More fun times. My kids always love to see their Grammy and Grandpa. What a special Christmas afternoon treat.
After they left to drive back up to Dayton, there was still plenty of time for more dessert, more candles, more scriptures, more carols, and more play!
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| Mary opened Yum Yum's, her bakeshop. Business has exploded and she has since taken on Sara as an employee. |
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| Developing fine motor skills at the kitchen table! |
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| Legos! |
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| More Legos! |
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| Play-doh! My Little Ponies! Play-doh My Little Ponies! Dream worlds collide! |
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| Mom helps. Because Christmas doesn't really happen unless Mom helps...a lot. Am I right? |
