Christmas Eve
BJ and I started off celebrating our 11th anniversary on Christmas Eve. Nothing major planned this year other than to relax and enjoy the day off from work. Grammy Sheba (BJ's mom) took the kids for the day and we went out shopping for those last minute items. I never realized that shopping for stocking stuffers could be so hard. This is our first year really doing that so I was kind of at a loss as to what to get. Needless to say, the kids got a lot of snack items and a couple of small toys (Iyana) and new sippy cups (Dayson). After all the shopping, we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service. This year we decided to volunteer as a family in the nursery. BJ's mom joined us and we had a lot of fun. There were only three other children besides Dayson so we were each able to focus on one child.
Dayson was really into unwrapping his presents this year. It was fun to see his excitement when he saw all his new toys, video's and snacks. Of course, convincing him to unwrap more when he was busy playing was a little difficult, but we managed.
After her several years of experience, Iyana had the unwrapping of gifts down pat. Even though she's getting older and starting to show some of the signs of the impending teenage years, she still had that same excitement that always shows up at this time of year. I love watching all the different expression that pass over her face. I especially love the big smile she gets when she's not aware of how she's smiling or who's watching. Any more now days, when trying to get a picture of her I only get a small, half smile. So these times of the true smile are priceless to me.
Iyana was also in to making most of her gifts this year. We received pictures, a hand made stable and a story that she had written in a book. These are the things that we will always be able to look back on with great memories, such a special touch to them.
Sheba even got a present. Her favorite, a moo cow!
Christmas Day
We had a rare treat on Christmas Day. Dayson actually let us sleep in until 7:30am! He's our early bird and so to actually get to be lazy in the morning and rest, it was pure bliss ☺. Upon both children getting up, we let them open their stockings. After that, Grammy Sheba came over and we all had breakfast together then headed to church. It's been about two months since BJ and I have been able to sit through the morning service. With taking care of children's church and then the children's Christmas program, we've been pretty busy. It was so nice to be able to sit in service and soak up God's word.
After church we headed back home while Grammy Sheba went to a friends house. It was a nice relaxing afternoon filled with naps and the kids playing with their new toys. Well, BJ got in on the action too. Iyana was enjoying riding her new scooter and then decided to let daddy try it out. Definitely had to get a picture as he looked kind of silly.
The rest of the night was filled with movie watching and having dinner over at Grammy's again. Iyana read the Christmas story out of Luke in the Bible. Think we should make this a tradition every year. There's just something about hearing scripture being read by a child that fills your heart to overflowing.
The past two days had worn Dayson out and well before his normal bedtime, he was ready to go home. Kept going to the front door and crying until we finally packed everything up and headed home. Once there, he played for a few minutes and then crashed for the rest of the night. It wasn't long before the rest of us soon followed. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. Hard to believe that it's over and a new year is fast approaching us. Looking forward to what Christ has in store for us in this coming year!
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