Christmas Eve 2013

Christmas Eve this year was perfect! It had snowed a few days before, so we were literally having a white Christmas (which is my dream come true!).

We slept in (as much as the kids allowed) and lounged most of the morning. We were heading to a Christmas Eve service at 1pm at Newspring. I dressed Tessa up in her pretty Christmas dress, got Tommy wrangled into a nice shirt and we headed out to meet Nana at church.

I'm not a huge fan of Newspring church because I feel like they're super showy and from their Christmas decorations (which were definitely beautiful), I feel like there money is going to the wrong place. And I could be wrong, but I like when the focus of a church is God, not their decorations. That being said, they were the only church around having a Christmas Eve service that didn't interfere with our family plans, so we went. They DID have some beautiful music! Tessa was mesmerized. She clapped and danced and stared in awe for most of the service.

After church, we put the kids down for a nap for a few hours and then headed over to Nick's parent's house. We had a delicious Mexican meal (my mouth is watering just thinking about it!). After we ate, it was present time! There were lots of presents under the tree! They all got the annual set of Christmas PJs.

Tommy got a remote control truck that he LOVES, a truck and boat set and a trike.

 Isabelle got a keyboard! She's been saving up to buy one but all of her grandparents chipped in to get her one for Christmas. She was a happy girl!

 Josh and Christi got a crazy chair that everybody loved. It looked like a trampoline (and did seem to be very bouncy!) but everyone said it was super comfy! I think Tessa wanted to take it home.

 Makayla got a bike! She was a happy girl, too! Tommy didn't know it at this point, but he was getting the exact same bike the next morning ;)

 Miss Tessa got a play kitchen!! It took her forever to get it unwrapped and the box was bigger than her, but she was excited!

I didn't get pictures of our presents, but we got Gambino's hoodies, I got a TON of lotion, Nick got a shooting target and together we got some gift cards! It was a good evening, topped off with some delicious sopapillas and churros!

Isabelle informed us before leaving that Santa had made it to North America, so we headed home to get the kids in bed. We had to leave milk and cookies for Santa.

Tommy dictated a letter for me to write to Santa.
It said: Merry Christmas! I love you. It's Jesus' birthday! I want an engine and a Bronco's hat please! And boots for Sissy. Merry Christmas. Thanks for coming. Don't let the bed bugs bite. Dream about lady bugs! Love-Tommy

Sweetest letter ever!

We finally got them laid down and to sleep. They had such a fun and busy day!