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First morning of Christmas Break 12.22!!
James had tummy troubles again on 12.21, but felt better by morning |
On Tuesday, 12.23, we caught up on some of our Random Acts of Kindness by leaving treats at the Red Boxes and caroling with the Jones girls at Loaves and Fishes (the soup kitchen--Niles and James wore Elf hats and handed out Hershey kisses and candy canes, too). After that, we came home and had some pizza and did the Nativity story and dress up with our kids.
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| Niles-Angel |
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| Clara and Addie-Angels |
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| Jeanette-Wiseman |
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The Whole Gang
Heidi, Elanor, James, Jeanette, Eden, Clara and Addie
with Bea, Rex, Niles, and Ammon on the floor. |
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| Angels We Have Heard on High! |
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| Wild Niles |
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| Add caption |
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Beatrice was the sweetest little Mary,
but Ammon didn't want to be Baby Jesus for long... |
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| ...so we got her a more quiet Baby Jesus. |
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| Rex-Joseph and Bea- Mary |
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Heidi was a drummer boy-shepherd and
Addie and Clara led the singing |
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| Elanor, Jeanette, and Eden were the Three Kings |
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| Bearing Gifts We Traverse Afar |
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Mary and Joseph "off stage"
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That was a sweet little nativity--thanks to Grandma Melin for letting us use her costume box!
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This year for Christmas Eve International Dinner, we had Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice, with pita chips and hummus and Martinelli's. We listened to Papa Bill read "The Other Wiseman" by Henry Van Dyke as we ate dinner. It was beautiful.
After dinner we watched the Finnish "Christmas Story" movie and snuggled by the fire. It was the most relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Eve in recent memory...I loved it! The kids were all asleep before 10pm, so Santa had plenty of time to do his business!
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| The relaxation ended early, though, when Heidi came and woke us up at 5am! We almost sent her back to bed, but then we realized we could probably get back to bed pretty quickly if we just let them get up, so we did. I baked the casserole and cinnamon rolls while we were opening gifts, then we ate breakfast and I was asleep with Ammon by 6:30am and we slept until 10:30 while the big kids enjoyed their new toys and games. |
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| Ammy got a phone! |
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| Niles got his dump truck and loader |
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| Everyone got lots of yummies in their stockings |
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| The boys got 1600 legos to share |
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| Niles helped me open my nice new digital slow cooker. |
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| Heidi got new boots |
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| Addie got a cool mug for her herbal tea habit |
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| Niles got Candy Land to play with mom! |
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| Ammon was soooo tired! |
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| James got a bike! |
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| I got a hug! |
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| Niles got a cool "shark tooth" necklace made by Nana Lyndi |
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| The aftermath! |
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| Later Christmas Day, around 2pm, we wet over to hang out with the Joneses. They made us a nice dinner of Ham, potatoes, rolls and all manner of fun condiments, and fabulous carrot soufflé. We brough a bunch of grazing food for the afternoon while we worked on puzzles and the girls watched movies and all the kids shared their new toys. Ammon tried a pickle from the relish tray... |
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| He liked it pretty well! |
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| Daddy and Niles finishing up James' cool puzzle |
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| Ammon and Jeanette |
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Robyn made and then gifted this GORGEOUS, one-of-a-kind Jane Eyre doll to me for Christmas.
I love it so much. |
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| Niles was darling trying to figure out the puzzle |
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Looks like Niles got hold of the camera and took pictures of the daddies!
Here's Rich... |
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| ...and here's Lope. |
Thanks for a lovely Christmas Day, friends!
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| All Christmased Out. |
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On Saturday 12/27, we went sledding at Pine Creek
It was a beautiful ending to our Christmas celebrations.
