It was great having most of the kids home for Christmas this year, unfortunately Breck and Iris were unable to come because it was too close to Iris’ due date, but we are grateful for the time we were able to spend with Breck and Iris when they came for Thanksgiving!

Christmas morning was just like the good-old-days, the stuffed stockings were placed around the living room (since Santa Clause was so generous this year we had to use our Christmas pillow cases for stocking overflow) as the kids walked down the stairs with Christmas music playing in the background. They dove into their stocking first. Finley wasn’t quite sure what to think about the whole ordeal, but he did enjoy eating little bites of his dad’s chocolate orange.

We then took turns opening gifts from youngest to oldest. The kids draw names among themselves every year (via a Secret Santa app Merinda discovered) and I’m always impressed with the time and thought that goes into those gifts. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is watching the kids (no matter how old) open their gifts, and seeing big smiles light up their faces! After the last gift was opened, Brad made his traditional Christmas morning omelettes, for breakfast (which was really lunchtime). After omelettes we began playing Catan, some of the kid’s favorite board game. However, due to naps, and catching up with remote family members via phone or FaceTime, we actually didn’t back to playing Catan until late that evening, making it midnight before it was all said and done! Some of us (Brad) were a little grumpy by bedtime, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing…it was a great Christmas!