Our Christmas Eve started with a trip to IHOP with our good friends the W's! They are such a cute family and we really enjoy their company and hanging out with them!
After IHOP we watched Return of the Jedi so that we could be prepared to watch the new Star Wars movie when the moment arrived. Jake has seen all the movies, but I hadn't finished the series yet. Now I am caught up and we can go see the new one! That evening we headed over to J and K's for a traditional Bethlehem dinner for Christmas Eve.
K did a beautiful job with the table! We had pita bread, chicken, grapes, dried fruit, nuts, and cheese and crackers. It was yummy! We read the Christmas story from the scriptures and spent the rest of the night chatting and relaxing. M and K made cookies for Santa which was absolutely hysterical. M has a funny little personality and it is fun to watch him grow!
Christmas started early for us at 6:30am so we could open presents with my family in Utah via Skype. We had fun with that and it made it feel like we were with family opening presents. I got a bundt pan from my parents and so Jake requested monkey bread for Christmas breakfast and luckily we had all the ingredients! We ate a delicious breakfast and then "played" with all our new things!
Jake got: some clothes, google play gift cards, remember the titans (we quote this movie continually and we haven't owned it ever and now we do! exciting!) The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit set - leather bound, a couple of games, applebee's gift card, some money, emergency filtered water bottles, and an amazon gift card.
I got: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Illustrated edition, a Hogsmede poster, the Harry Potter coloring book, a shirt, slippers, a new calendar and planner, a Barnes and Noble gift card, a baby scrapbooking kit, a bundt pan, and a nativity set (which is kid friendly so when baby gets here it won't break!)
We were really blessed to receive such wonderful gifts from our family! Later in the day we went over to our friends the V's house to check out what their kids got for Christmas. They were so excited and wanted to show off all their toys. It was fun. After that we went back over to J and K's house to hang out and have dinner. We played with M and S and they showed us their toys!
Cute baby S!
Jake does not have lots of Christmas spirit and so I got him this "Bah Humbug" shirt and he was a good sport to wear it! I also made him take a picture - he doesn't like to be in pictures, but he obliged.
Nephew M
We had dinner and chatted with family and watched tv! K and J made quite a delicious dinner and dessert! We are so grateful for their generosity and hospitality on our behalf. We are blessed to be close to family. Needless to say, this year's Christmas was perfect, but we are excited for next Christmas already because Baby Girl will be here and it will be a WAY different experience. Merry Christmas everyone!
