Christmas 2012

my sweet girls...ready for Christmas Eve service at our church....one of my favorite times of worship each year!

it took FOREVER to get this shot...all looking at the camera...all smiling...a minor Christmas miracle!

no pics....but more memories made in between.  we managed to make it through the entire Christmas Eve service with all four kiddos with us...there were some hilariously chaotic moments at the end while Pastor Mark was giving his "sermonette"....but we made it!  then we headed to China's Best for our traditional Christmas eve Chinese buffet dinner...only this time our dear friends' the Lewises joined us....so much fun....7 kiddos 7 and under, 4 adults, loads of "Chinese chicken" and more trips to the "dessert" bar than I can count. :)  good times!

opening their traditional Christmas Eve present...matching jammies...

...and another Christmas Eve tradition....Charlie Brown Christmas

Libber-girl and mama :)

reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas :)

Mugho has a special place in his heart for Christmas...he REALLY wanted to open presents last night while everyone was still sleeping

Kate and Jillian were in our room at 5:26 a.m....I managed to tuck them back in and buy another 30 minutes or so before they traipsed back in...and we bought another 30-45 minutes by letting them lay in our bed and watch a few cartoons...crazy kiddos...by 7ish we were eating donuts and reading Luke 2...the calm before the storm! ;)

maybe some of my favorite/the best Christmas morning by the tree pics we have ever managed to pull off! :)  and this is sooo incredibly Kate in true form

funny face pic...always have to do this for Aunt Shell ;)

sweet Kate...she was SOOOO excited to give her gifts.  each year we take the girls to pick out dollar-ish gifts for their siblings...it has been fun to watch them grow in the thought they put into each gift.  elizabeth, bless her sweet, tender heart....without any prompting she chose to spend her AWANA shares on presents for the whole family...i will never treasure a chocolate cupcake candle quite so much as the one she picked for me!  and kate...sweet kate LOVES to give gifts...i think her love language is a lot like her mamas....gift giving and receiving. ;)  here she is giving elizabeth necklaces...she kept saying, "I picked them because I just KNEW you would love them!"  (she also gave her daddy a copy of a free book she got from chick-fil-a...hilarious!)

PONIES!

pure delight...Kate opening her pony wedding castle....so beyond excited

all in all, we enjoyed a Christmas day at home...just the 6 of us...no big traditional meal...appetizers for lunch, Asian noodle salad for dinner....our traditional birthday cake for Jesus...loads of giggles, some frustrating moments where little people struggled to be grateful, especially when they had to think about sharing...lots of noise and chaos...soooooo incredibly blessed and thankful!

Merry Christmas!