We had another wonderful Christmas this year. You never know how it will all unfold, but I think all of our family was pleased and mostly just enjoyed being together as a family.
As usual, Christmas Eve began at G’ma & G’pa Johnson’s home. It is another tradition that my kids live for every year. We eat a nice meal consisting of Grandma Jan’s famous broccoli soup in a bread bowl, ham, veggies, jello salad, and Grandma’s holiday punch. Scrumptious! I wish I would have taken more pictures this year, but I was too busy enjoying myself.
After dinner and visiting we watched the kids perform the nativity scene. Every year it gets better and better. Costumes, scenery, it was perfect. Afterward, we all met upstairs to play the candy bar game (another tradition). It can get heated, but it is basically a gift exchange with steals that only uses wrapped candies. So fun!
We then head home to open up pajamas, sing Christmas carols and read “The Night Before Christmas.”
Santa came and left all this! It was quite a site for the kids to behold. We have a tradition of all the kids meeting in our room and then running out every 30 seconds starting with the youngest on up the the oldest. I love watching them and all the excitement in their eyes.
Of course we had too many gifts, although surprisingly Santa and I planned well. The kids seemed very happy with their gifts. It was a great day!
This year each of our kids chose a name and they got to do “gifts of self” for each other. Jake planned a scavenger hunt for Claire and the gift she opened was her first clue. She eventually found her gift of a few goodies when she got to the end. Katelyn gave Drew a soccer ball and offered to give him some lessons and play a few games with him. Ellie and Drew gave coupons to Meg and KK saying they would make their beds. These are my favorite gifts. Here is a true sibling hug happening. It doesn’t happen often, but I like it. 🙂
We had a wonderful Christmas. I love this time of year and although it is filled with Santa and gift-giving, I am grateful we have this opportunity to take time and reflect on the real gift of Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to all!
MightyJohnsons 