Christmas #1

Yes, I have to title it that, b/c we as a family had 4 Christmases. Yikes!! And it would have been 5, if everyone had gotten together at Grandma Morgan's house, but each of the aunts and uncles did something different, so no Grandma Morgan Christmas. But we did get to see her and some of the cousins, and aunts and uncles, but that's another story.

So our Christmas, aside from the Christmas parties that we had with church and Chris's work, began on Christmas Eve, with Chris's mom's side of the family. We had it at our house, partly b/c it was the only house that was available, and partly so we wouldn't have to worry about carting the kids around!! Chris's mom and Jerry and Shelby showed up shortly before the Christmas Eve service at 6. Jerry hung out at the house, to greet everyone else, while the rest of us bundled up (not really!) and headed to church. So, the last time I was at a Christmas Eve service was before kiddos (last year we were flying on Christmas Eve) so I hadn't done the bring kiddos to church thingy, and this time we had two. Thankfully Chris's mom and our niece Shelby were very helpful with the boys, particularly Ben. John got way squirmy, so Chris ended up going to the back and letting him play in the back. Ben got upset for a little bit, so I had to go out and feed him, but thankfully no screaming!! I also forgot how incredibly packed the Christmas Eve services are. We unfortunately were running close to when it started, so it was packed. We had to sit on two separate rows. Two separate rows with one diaper bag for two boys. Hmmmm, that was interesting. Needless to say, with all the shuffling around, I lost my candle for the candlelighting part. It was neat though, they did a little kids presentation, where all the kids in the audience, (like 1/3 of it) came up front and the pastor's wife read them a story. John and his friend Mikaela went up there, but neither lasted very long. Guess it was more geered to the older kids (3+)
After the service and a few greetings (we didn't close the church home this time!!!!), we scurried home to the rest of the family. We had a yummy smorgasboard of deli sandwiches, quesadillas, meatballs, chips and dips, fruit, cakes, and other yumyums! After the kids tore into their presents, Chris stopped everyone and shared a letter he had written his family. In it he shared the Gospel. His bro Stephen has been really curious about God, and so has his sister, Stacy, so it was neat that they responded so enthusiastically about it. We are continuing to pray that Christ becomes real to them. It's neat that we can be close to see them more often. Here are some pictures from the night:
Nana holding Ben before we left for the service

The kids portion. John listening intently!! ;o)

Chris's sis, Stacy
Shelby
Jerry with Cameron & Trevor
Derrick and two of his nephews

Nana opening her gift from the kids


John bug got really into the opening of gifts this year! And he also would stop and look at the present and enjoy it for a few moments before moving on to the next gift!

The commotion!
Tanner! (Not sure if anyone noticed this, but large stripes (particularly black and white) appeared to be the dress for the evening. How come noone informed me?

Ben in his Christmas Eve pj's These actually used to be Derricks. Stacy loaned them to us, so we could have a cute little elf on Christmas Eve!