Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve at bedtime, Ryan read Luke 2 to the kiddos before they fell asleep. Every night when I put Gavin to bed and prayed for him, we prayed for us to remember that presents are fun, but not the reason for Christmas--Jesus being born to die for us is the reason for Christmas! The first couple of weeks of December, Gavin did not quite grasp this concept. But I think he finally got it!

Ryan and I both woke up before the kiddos on Christmas morning and were practically pacing! So we finally woke them up at 7:30. Why did they pick Christmas morning to sleep in!? :)

Look at Gavin's precious reaction when we woke him up. He thinks Christmas=snow. Sweet boy:

Ryan and I have struggled with what to do with Santa for our kiddos. I know everyone does it differently, and I respect each family's convictions. We read this article by Mark Driscoll last year, loved it, and came up with a compromise for our family. So Gavin knows that Santa's real name is St. Nicholas, he knows that he was a real and generous man that gave gifts to those in need, and stockings are the extent of what "Santa" brings to them on Christmas morning. That's at least what we did this year. Next year may be different--who knows!

So this is where we started on Christmas morning for a little bit. The kids loved the candy they got in their stockings (World Market has the BEST candy, by the way!)...

...but Gavin's favorite by far was the army men and firemen set up:

(p.s. Henley didn't get her finished stocking until after Christmas, hence the sock!)

This video CRACKS ME UP! Because Larry the Elf set out toys at Nani and Pop's, he was a little confused who brought the stocking goodies:

Then to the tree with lots of presents!

Henley's big present was the Little People Princess Castle. Ryan got this for her back in October after seeing it in a magazine. Sweet Daddy!

 

Henley "approves" of things by rubbing Ellie's ribbon on them like she rubs Ellie's ribbon between her fingers. So apparently she LOVED the little princesses that came with the castle because she shared Ellie's ribbon with Snow White! So cute.

She also got a pop-up School Bus tent that she "drives" all over the house like this. It's hilarious:

Gavin got a huge construction site that Ryan didn't want to put together without him. They love building things together, so this was a fun project Christmas morning: 

Here's a video to see how neat this thing is. Henley has been playing with it just as much as Gavin, actually!

But his favorite present from Christmas morning (according to him) was the Hexbugs!

These things are really gross and really awesome at the same time. I love all bugs except for roaches and house centipedes (I call them Satan Bugs!), and these things look like both!! They really do move like bugs! And you can rebuild the track however you want. Henley loves them, too! We are shocked at how much she loves his toys.

I already posted about the rest of Christmas Day with Ryan's family, so we are finally caught up! Woohoo! Next and last Christmas post: Christmas @ Nani & Pop's. 

Aunt Joanna, I'm pushing through just for you. I'm sure you're the only one reading these by now! :)