Christmas Eve 2013

It's finally Christmas Eve! The kids ran, like they have every morning this month, to open the advent calendar. I folded a note inside that said that they may exchange the gifts that they got each other. Yay, they get to open a present!  Usually they wait until later in the day to open something, but since Billy had to work until the afternoon, I figured it would give them something to play with and keep them busy.

Blake loved the Diamond Minecraft Sword that Tay picked for him!

By the look on her face...she loved her new hand made Pokemon binder!

I spent the day making snacks and desserts to take to church and to eat when we got back home. We never do a real dinner, just finger foods. Billy got off an hour early, so he was home by 2pm.  We planned on doing our family gift exchange before church, they could hardly wait and Billy was the same way! He and the kids planned The Best Gift Ever for me!

I started it off by playing "find the pickle" and Taylor found it first, so she got to open the 1st gift! This was a new thing and rather fun! They usually get three or four gifts from us and it always includes a book, game, and a toy.

see the look on his face? Billy put a ball in the box,
"along" with the real gift...which was a struggle
to get worked out...Daddy tricked him..lol!

One happy kid...he got MineCraft for the pc!!!
He has been wanting this for a year now!

And now, for the very best part....we headed to church for a small candlelight service, where we met Aunt Sissy, Uncle Danny, and Aunt Susie!!!  The kids have been more excited to see them, than to open presents! After the service, we headed for the house, the boys went to rent a wii game to play, and then we exchanged gifts, ate, ate, ate, and played!

Opening Aunt Susie's gift, they went through each pokemon card,
then hugged her and thanked her to make sure she felt special

OMGOODNESS....the easy bake oven from Aunt Sissy and Uncle
Danny...she has been wanting one of these!

So happy that he is still into Legos! Thanks Aunt Sissy & Uncle Danny!

Cheers! They both drank iced tea like Uncle Si

This was an especially blessed holiday, not just because of the wonderful gifts, but because of the family we got to spend it with! Mostly because of the REAL gift that we all get to freely receive....Jesus!!!  Merry Christmas!!!