Christmas 2008

Bruce and Oliver Christmas morning. I love new Christmas Eve PJ's.  Here is Bruce showing off his :)

Oliver can't wait to get his stocking finally.  Ever since it went up, he stared at it for hours because he knew that there were goodies in there for him.

Victory!  Oliver got a football and some flossies.  As soon as everything was rooted out of the stocking, it was upstairs to hide everything in our bed somehow...

Santa brought us the Wii.  It is so much fun!  In fact, we played for 5 hours on Christmas Day and didn't want to change.  Who would have thought you could bowl, play tennis, box and play other sports in the comfort of home and PJ's?  We didn't get Wii elbow though, so I guess we didn't play long enough.

After all was said and done, here is the pile of paper.  What a great morning.  

Christmas Eve

Christmas, Christmas time is here...

We love Christmas Eve, and we love celebrating it with friends.  This year we had the Abshers, Mordocks, and Manwills over (8 adults, 7 kids and Oliver).  It was so much fun.  

Here is the kids' table.  I found these really cute sippy cups that wouldn't spill on the carpet :)

The adult table.  I went with candles in the middle this year to allow for easier conversation.  Our reindeer is still there, just moved off to the side :)

The brined turkey.  I love how this bird tastes with the brine, not to mention how great the house smells with the apple, cinnamon, and rosemary combination.

In our home it is the tradition to let the kids watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" while the adults go in the other room and have a chance to talk.  It works like a charm.  The house was a bit crazy, but after the food was served and the kids were occupied the house had this amazing Christmas glow.

Another tradition in our home is that the kids decorate sugar cookies for Santa.  The kitchen is a mess and Oliver gets way too much sugar, but the joy and fun of watching them decorate the way only kids can - with tons of frosting and sprinkles - is totally worth it.

Thanks to our friends for coming over and celebrating Christmas Eve with us. We are so grateful for this time of the year and for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.