Christmas 2014

We kept a fire in the fireplace all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, even though the weather was quite mild.  We stayed in our pajamas all day Christmas Eve, cooking, baking, and reading books.

Our grand-neighors sent gifts over for the kids. We are very blessed with the neighbors we have.

My husband's company always sends a picnic basket with a delicious ham, sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese, and maple syrup.  So we used those gifts to plan our holiday menu.

We had a sausage and cheese platter to snack on for lunch while the ham cooked slowly.

Then we had the ham and homemade mac and cheese for dinner on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, we made sausages and French toast with maple syrup.

In all, it was a delicious holiday.

After dinner, we went to church for Christmas Eve service.  After church, our good friends the McCandlesses came over.  They brought a homemade chocolate cheese cake and I shared chocolate delight I had made.  Our friends took this picture of us before we changed clothes.

We always let the girls open their Christmas pajamas soon after we get home from church on Christmas Eve.  In addition to their pajamas this year, we also gave the girls one Christmas-themed Webkinz.  After our friends left, we did our Advent readings and went to bed.

On Christmas morning, after breakfast and our last Advent readings, we took turns opening gifts. Adele loves cars, so she got hot wheels and a ramp.

Because of the generosity of our families, our two oldest girls got Nintendo 3DS systems and some really nice games.  In the photo above, my oldest is helping her younger sister complete a level on her new game.

Our youngest also got this portable, plush castle with several adorable unicorns. She and her older sister, our middle child, really love stuffed animals, so they are delighting in all the new stuffed animals we have gotten this Christmas.

My husband gave me many nice gifts this year, but one of the most delightful surprises was this new-to-me punching bag.  I am not sure where he hid it from me in our house in the days leading up to Christmas, but as I opened a set of heavy-duty boxing gloves, I looked up to see him carrying this up from downstairs.  We put it in my workout room, got the garden hose out of the garage, pulled it in through the window, and worked together to fill up the base. I enjoyed doing Bodycombat at home yesterday, using the punching bag for a few of the tracks on the new release #62.

Later on Friday evening, we went to our friends' house for a caroling party.  We stayed till almost midnight, singing and talking.  It was a beautiful holiday.  I am thankful for Jesus who makes it all possible.