Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Day at home. It started early with some very excited children, ready and waiting to open gifts. We enjoyed the morning sharing gifts with one another. The kids had used their own money to buy gifts for each person in our family. John and I had separately taken them to the Dollar Tree, where they carefully picked things out for each person on their list. The boys wrapped their own gifts in the privacy of their own room. John helped Brenna get her gifts for others wrapped. It warmed my heart to watch them give the gifts they had purchased. I'm praying that God will use this to help them understand that it truly is better to give than receive.

After opening gifts, I finished cooking our Christmas lunch while the kids played with some of their new things. Papa John came over and joined us for our yummy lunch. John, the boys and Brenna took turns reading the Christmas story from God's Word. That afternoon, we went outside to take a walk and let the kids ride their bikes. We ended our day with a birthday cake for Jesus that the kids decorated themselves.

Here is John with his new Ipod docking station.

Brandon and Bradley got these football suits for Christmas. Here they are showing me their best football faces!

Here is Bethany with her new baby stroller, playpen, and swing. She is a sweet little Mommy to her baby dolls.

Ms. Brenna has grown so much this year that her bike from last Christmas is too small. So, she got a new one for Christmas. We let her take it for a spin and she did really well. The next step is to get rid of the training wheels. Maybe soon!

We made a heart-shaped cake to show how much God loved us by sending His Son Jesus to be born on earth. The kids loved decorating the cake, and then blowing out the candles.

Happy Birthday Jesus!