A Merry Little Christmas

Merry Christmas!

 

Another Christmas has come and gone…but I think this may have been our best one yet.  :)  The weeks leading up to Christmas were busy as usual….

 

MJ and Ty had their preschool Christmas parties:

 

 

 

 

They also had their Christmas program in the church sanctuary a couple of weeks ago.  The kids were adorable in their red and green singing (or attempting to sing) Christmas songs. I blocked my schedule at work so I could meet my crew over there.  Ms. Lisa and I had a little miscommunication, so Ty was in a dinosaur shirt instead of his Christmas outfit.. but I guess it was fitting seeing as how he didn’t want to participate at all.  Check out his mean mug in the picture below (he is in the front center):

 

 

And he still doesn’t realize that he is not actually hiding if he puts his hands over his eyes:

 

L.O.L.

 

 

MJ, on the other hand, just loved being the center of attention.

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa Eco took the boys on their annual trip to the Pink Pig.  Ty wasn’t crazy about sitting on the pig’s lap, but he did it long enough to get the picture!

 

 

 

 

 

We visited the famous blow-ups in Capital City:

 

 

 

 

 

And we made a trip to Life College to see the Christmas lights:

 

 

 

 

 

On Christmas Eve, the boys were ecstatic to find Simie made his own zip line!

 

 

MJ’s exact words were: “That is unbelievable!  I am so impressed with my elf!!” 

 

After the beautiful children’s mass at OLA, we headed over to Nick and Kerry’s house for Christmas Eve dinner. 

 

 

My attempt at a picture of the three of them prior to mass.

 

The kids had a great time playing with cousin James..and all of them snuggled with Grandma and Grandpa for a little while on the couch.

 

 

  

When we got home, the kids put on their Christmas pajamas and we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas (per MJ’s request).  Catelin had to go to bed early, so the boys left milk and cookies out for Santa (and carrots for his reindeer) and said a tearful goodbye to Simie.  Steve read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas before we put our excited little ones to bed. 

 

Santa came!!!

Even though MJ was excited about Christmas last year, it was even more special this year.  I watched his eyes light up like magic when I told him Santa came and presents were waiting for them downstairs.  It brought back that feeling – you know, the one you had when you were a child on Christmas morning… 

 

After singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, everyone headed down the stairs.  Ty was just as excited as MJ (even though he didn’t fully understand what was going on).

 

 

 

 

The big presents (the ones from mommy and daddy) were hiding in the basement…MJ got a bike and Ty got a workbench!

 

 

 

 

My family came over for Christmas brunch around 10:00.  We had a delicious meal followed by more gift opening!

 

 

 

 

We went over to Steve’s parent’s house around 2:00.  Of course, there were even more gifts to open (we were all so spoiled)! 

 

 

 

After a delicious steak dinner, we headed back home.  Here is the only picture I got with my camera of our family on Christmas day:

 

sigh.

 

We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas!  We sure did.

 

 

 

“But the angel said unto them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born on this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” 

Luke 2:10-11