Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Chistmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and for those of you far away, we missed you!

I just wanted to share a few pictures with you... I do have a few more that I'll share later. But for today, this is what I wanted to show:

Picture #1: There is something about the magic that Santa brings. Such excitement, such love, such happiness in the air. My kids haven't grown out of this yet, and I hope they never do. Santa's spirit is real... the spirit of giving. And it is a wonderful spirit to share. We've had SO much fun trying to give more than receive this year with Secret Santa, Giving Tree, caroling, etc. We've had a great time! Christ has given us so much, and it was nice to give of ourselves to others. Todd, the kids, and I all enjoyed sharing more with others! And we appreciate others being receptive to our giving! Look at the smile on their faces... pure joy!

This is our family breakfast with Todd's family tradition of an egg casserole and orange julius. If you look closely at Alex, you can see his mustache... he LOVED the julius! Christmas morning..... ALL SMILES!


Picture #2, 3: There is something about homemade gifts, isn't there? Todd and I came up with this contraption for a belt holder, for their karate. As they earn their belts, they can display them. One rung for each of the boys... if you've ever seen them at karate, yes, even little Alex, they ALL love it, and will be in it for quite a while, I'm sure! Todd was so excited for the kids to open up the present, as was I! We KNEW they would LOVE it! Sure enough, we saved it for last, and it was a hit! And Todd commented how much fun he had building it! Homemade gifts are always special cause they are made with love! Now, we just need to hang it up!


Picture #4: Todd was planning on going for a little ride, but ended up with Ellie sleeping on his arm. So, he took time to just cuddle with his little girl, even if it meant delaying his ride... at least he got to read his book :-) How cute is this picture!


And last but not least, here's Picture #5: Alex in seventh heaven. He has a hat on, and cars. This kid went to sleep with all this gear as well!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and know how much you are all missed by the Oregonians!







3 comments:

Kate the Great said...

And what did Santa bring you? Or were you not a good little girl?

Becky said...

Looks like a great Christmas!

Robyn said...

Love the Karate belt holder. So clever. Hand made, personal things ARE the best. Scott made our kids something too - a Lego chest. Though in hindsight it was actually for us. Hmmmmm. . .