Our Final Christmas Afternoon/Morning

Since Christmas was on a Sunday, our church was about an hour long, and it started in the afternoon. So we had Santa gifts in the morning, and then we (all 14 of us) got ready for and went to church. When we got home, we ate some lunch, put the kids down for naps, and then began opening presents.

Lou got some awesome Halloween decorations.

Rebecca made some very cool bowls out of records for the boys. The bowls came with golf balls, too!

Awesome wrapping job for Bando!

Rebecca and Chris!
Towards the end of the adult present-opening-adventure, the kids started waking up. We finished opening our presents, got the kids up, and made dinner. Once dinner was finished, Claire (and most of the other kids, too) had had enough. So we put them all to bed, even though they hadn't opened their presents.

So we had our final Christmas morning on the 26th!

Claire got an alphabet puzzle, which she really likes.

Ryan got a little "Alphaberry" toy with lots and lots of buttons!

Claire wanted to try on her new shoes.

Kyle got an awesome camo apron and chef's hat.

McKinley loved seeing all the new toys.

Ryan got his own rhino!

Claire paused to see Grandma and Evan.

I think the best story of the present-opening experiences was when I opened a beautiful, new purse from Jordan. I wasn't looking at Claire (because I was opening my present!), but sources say that Claire, who was happily playing, suddenly saw my purse, and her eyes got HUGE. (She likes any type of bag. Have I mentioned that before?) She came over to me and said, "Bag, mama?" She wanted to hold my new purse. I said, "No, this is Mom's bag." Claire, in a whiny, almost-crying voice, then said, "Share, share, share, share, share, share!" She made a valiant effort, but she didn't get to hold my new bag!

That, my friends, finally wraps up our wonderful, family-filled Christmas celebrations. Thanks for bearing with me as I caught up on Christmas.