This Christmas was an interesting one, mainly because everyone knew what they were getting ahead of time. Matthew and I went to REI and bought all my gifts at the beginning of December and they just lived, unwrapped, behind the tree for the rest of the month. Luca only wanted one thing, an American Girl Doll that she wanted to pick out herself. They are pretty expensive so it was more or less her only gift. Dude wanted Warhammer figurines, also pretty expensive. Matthew wanted new shoes and to share in my REI backpacking supplies. The only surprises came when we opened the gifts the kids had purchased for each other and for Matthew and I. The gifts the kids give each other are normally opened on Christmas Eve, but with so few presents to open in the morning, they opted to wait until the next day. And yet, despite the more or less lack of surprise, they were still so excited to wake up Christmas morning, open their presents and have a day of family and cousins.
This Christmas was also special, because we were able to spend some alone time with each set of grandparents. We exchanged gifts with Matthew's parents a couple of weeks before since they were headed out of town for the rest of the month. They have never watched their grandchildren open their presents before, for any occasion, so that was a fun experience for them and us. Thankfully, my kids are wonderful about being thankful and enthusiastic for their gifts (so long as they aren't clothing).
Christmas Eve after church, my mother invited us over to her house to open the presents she had for us. What I thought was going to be a 10-20 minute experience, ended up being gifts, brunch, and a Sabbath-appropriate Christmas movie. It was so lovely spending time with them, even if we do see them on the regular.
Overall, we had a lovely Christmas. We are thankful for all that our Savior has done for us during 2023 and are so excited to be able to celebrate His remarkable birthday.
Our only picture from Christmas - the kids having a slumber party in Dude's room on Christmas Eve.
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