Christmas at our house was celebrated on Friday the 21st. We woke up and had homemade pancakes and fruit for breakfast, we read the Christmas story and opened gifts. Michael was so excited this year! He wanted to play Santa and hand out all the gifts- so sweet!
This year Christmas was very peaceful- we completed shopping early, and we solidified our gift giving plan. When Josh and I first got married we decided to just give 3 gifts for Christmas to each other (because Christ got 3 gifts)- thus we would be more able to keep the focus on the REAL reason for the Season- which is of course the Birth of the Savior of the ENTIRE World- OUR Savior. Well, let me tell you it's pretty hard to stick to 3 gifts when you have your own kids to buy for! Between the things they need, there are the things they want, the things you want them to have, etc. the past couple of Christmas's (since we've been parents) we've cheated a little- putting multiple (non similar) items in one box, etc. So this year, we felt the need to stick to our guns -plus do little things in the kids' stockings. Here is our layout... each child (and someday Josh and I too- when we can afford to get each other gifts) gets:
Something to wear, something to read, something you want and something you need
This year Michael received the following from us:
Mater pillow (which he needed)
play bus (which he loved"wanted"),
"The Christmas Train" book,
and in his stocking received:
car socks, a little toy airplane, an orange, 3 chocolates and a Nemo cup.
This year Adilene received:
A stuffed toy lamb (want),
a light up ball (need),
and in her stocking received a Nemo cup, socks, and a fun push helicopter.
We did it! We simplified! And it feels so awesome and worth it! I felt like it was enough to feel super exciting and not so much that it was over kill. The most important part was that we could still feel the Spirit after we opened gifts- which is what was important to us in the first place.
Also, every year we get Gemma a HUGE raw hide bone- chews, gums and carries it around all year! The best part of this is that the night before our Christmas I get to throw out the nasty one she's been playing with all year!
Afterwards Michael and I made cookies, which never actually got to be decorated- better luck next year!
We had an awesome Christmas as a family, I love them so much!
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