Once again Christmas came and Christmas went but not without some wonderful days spent celebrating with loved ones. Christmas Eve we gather at my mom and dad's house for presents and a delicious prime rib lunch that my mom prepares. As the number of kids increases the chaos increases and what was once a simple adult gathering now is filled with the running around of little ones and the squeals of excitement when a fun toy is unwrapped. There is never as much joy at Christmas than when you share it with kids.
We've developed a tradition of taking family pictures every year with the camera set on remote. This year was quite the challenge. Lets hope for better cooperation next year. We had to be at church early for the Christmas Eve service since the girls were playing angels in the nativity and Magnolia had a reading part that needed to be rehearsed beforehand. So trying to take pictures while trying to hurry was a recipe for disaster. Next time maybe we should take the pictures first and use the opening of gifts as bribe for the kids to smile good!
After we left my parents house that afternoon, we rushed home and got changed and headed to church for the 5 pm service. I had my camera all ready and when I went to take the first picture I realized that my cameras battery was almost dead! Bummer! But I had my video camera with me which was probably better anyways since I could tape the girls walking up the aisle in their angel costumes and Magnolia reading a part for the lighting of the Christ candle. I was so proud of her getting up in front of the whole congregation (plus many more) and reading her script. She is an amazing little reader but I'll post more about her reading in another post.
We got home from church and had some cheesy potato soup before snuggling the kids into bed. We had another busy day the following day on Christmas and I wanted to make sure they got plenty of rest. I'll post again about the fun we had with Dan's family next.
