Dad had to work most of Christmas Eve, but they were anxiously awaiting his return because then they could not wait to open their gifts from one another. Our weekend trip to Amarillo the week before was a struggle. 5 kids, crowds, traffic, and a dog made the day extremely long!! We took the kids with us to get Acey's shots because we thought they would have a better selection of toys in Amarillo. Needless to say, Kenney said next year he would be taking the kids into our room one-by-one to buy something on Amazon, haha!!
Right after we opened the presents, we headed to Edna and Richie's house to do Nanny and Papa's Christmas. It was nice to have so much more space and room to eat and sit. The kids had a great time and Kenney's cousin's husband Isaac did a great job as Santa.
While they were wrapping one another presents, Bentley decided to wrap herself. I guess she considers herself a gift!!
Mackenzie opening her gift from Kyler.
Bentley's mermaid Barbie from Mackenzie.
Radley's Ben10 watch from Bentley.
Damon's Cowboys neck pillow and calendar from Radley.
Kyler's Pokemon watch and flavored chapsticks from Damon.
Santa's lap for Nanny and Papa's Christmas Eve.
The cookies the kids left for Santa
Mackenzie LOVES music! Every time she hears a beat she just starts moving!
The kids were all excited to watch MJ open her baby doll because she has been playing with dolls a lot lately.
Christmas Sunday was a pretty good and very busy day. The kids sang in sacrament meeting (Bentley even got up there). We then headed to Nana and Papa's house. We had a family fiesta with Mexican food. There was a lot of food! We then did Nana's Navity and gifts.
A Christmas miracle: all of us looking at the camera with mostly normal smiles.
Bentley could not be Mary without some type of material draped around her face.
The Shepherds coming to worship baby Jesus
The Wisemen meeting an 'older' Jesus aka Big Logan!
Christmas time is always PACKED with one activity after another. It's hard to keep up. We had a movie at the movie theater and class parties and reading parties and work and church parties and so much more. We didn't take many pictures at these events, but they did happen. The kids all sat with their friends at the movie theater which was really weird. They left Kenney and I just sitting with Mackenzie. It was a fun night until the movie wouldn't work! The hospital party was a family affair this year. We all went and came home with an Echo dot (we didn't tell the kids because Kyler was getting one for Christmas). The church party had a hay ride, but we had sick kids. Kenney went to the Christmas sing at the school because I took the girls to a dental appointment with me and then to the doctors office. We were supposed to get the girls shots, but they both had fevers so we couldn't get the shots. Poor Mackenzie felt pretty bad for a few days, but she mostly just had a fever and yucky nose. Thankfully she was better before the 'real' Christmas stuff began.
Hay ride around the park to see the Christmas lights at the church Christmas party.
Drink hot chocolate on the ride.
1st grade kids (Radley's class)
Damon with the 3rd graders
Kyler and the 4th graders
Radley and his class singing
Damon's class singing Deck the Hall, but you have to watch the kid behind Damon (in the black tie) and see him cue the kids to start singing again. It's pretty funny.
Kyler's class singing the slowest version of Feliz Navidad.
Light the World is becoming one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I love being more intentional in our efforts to serve others during the Christmas season, especially when we can do it as a family. We tried to involve everyone as much as we could. Here are a few of the things we did. The kids really didn't like making visits to the elderly when we first started, but they actually look forward to it now. Usually they end up with some kind of treat at the end of the night, but they are much more comfortable around the older people and have become more patient too. But more importantly, the people LOVE it when we come which is why we keep doing it.
One night we visited an elderly man that has no family. Kenney said his apartment had no decorations and that he didn't do anything for Thanksgiving. We thought it would be nice if we brought him a tree and the kids helped him decorate it. He LOVED having us there. The kids had a great time too. He found a box of candy canes and gave each of the kids one (they always seem to get something out of these kinds of visits). We had a neighbor kid, Raylynn with us too, so she came along. Mr. Blevins was such a happy guy for being so lonely and couldn't wait for us to come visit again. He even asked Kenney for a copy of this picture to hang in his house!
We picked up some Angels from the bank to help some local families buy gifts for their kids. We found a little boy that loved Spiderman, and they all helped me find some gifts.
The kids all helped to remove some branches at the rent house. They didn't want to do it, but they did and seemed to have a pretty good time doing it.
We also made cookies for visits that we made, class parties, and Santa. This is what happens when I'm busy making cookies and Mackenzie roams free! Disasters everywhere!!
Our neighbor Raylynn was over helping decorate cookies too.
She was pretty content just walking around.
Proud of his snowman
Another disaster while we decorated the cookies.
Not my favorite Christmas tradition.
There were sprinkles EVERYWHERE!!!
Santa had some amazing cookies waiting for him!! I told all the people we delivered cookies to to not eat the sugar cookies, haha!!
Our baby is ONE!!! That was the fastest and slowest year ever, haha! Her sweet and easy going personality and become stronger and stronger over this last year. She will most definitely let you know if she does not like something that is going on. She is still happy most of the time and truly is sweet. She loves her Momma (which she can finally say now) and her Daddy. She prefers them most of the time. She loves her brothers and sister, but loves them more when Mom or Dad are holding her. She is still very unsure of anyone other than Mom or Dad, but she will smile and make you think she likes you!!
She loves to walk around everywhere and at all times. She just walks all over the house all day long. Food is one of her favorite things. She doesn't really care what she is eating as long as she has food. She is fiercely independent and wants to do everything herself. Her big eyes and bright smile make everyone happy. We all love this girl so much, and everyone couldn't wait to celebrate her day!!
We took some pictures to get ready for the big day.
Acey had to get pictures too!
Bentley too!
Party Time
I love the hands on her face, haha!
They were all so excited for her.
Then she got really nervous when everyone was singing loudly and looking at her.
Really unsure of that candle.
Presents seemed to be just as confusing.
And she was unsure of the gifts too.
But she got a little more involved once she could see the presents.
She loved it when Daddy started to read her new book.
Her very own ball.
She knew exactly what to do with her cake!
She LOVED her cake!
She was also willing to share...
One cake to share and one just for her.
She really loved that ice cream.
Digging in with both hands.
Bare-handing the ice cream!! I don't blame her; she must get that from me.
The singing was a little too much; all the attention and everyone singing was intense!
Boy or boy she loved her cake and ice cream. We thought she would be super happy about the food! She's quite eater.
