Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day was extra special this year because it fell on a Sunday.  Maddy was asked to sing in Church and I was asked to join her. It was beautiful.  She sang the second verse of Away in a Manger all by herself, and sounded like an angel.

We had to celebrate Christmas with our little family before church, because we were going to be splitting the day with both sides of the family... again. I think we've deided that this was the last year for that. Its exhausting. Joseph and I had to get up super early and get ready for church. Then we woke up the kids, they played with their Santa gifts for a little bit, and then we opened presents from eachother.  I made some breakfast and the kids played for about an hour before we left for church. We even got their early!  It was a very smooth morning.

Maddy had a Barbie Christmas, that is for sure.

Poor Ben, he was so tired, he had no interest in his gift at first.

Sarah is our vain one. She likes to play with her hair and stare at herself in the mirror.

Daddy playing beauty salon with her

There's a smile! He finally came around after he had time to wake up!

Kind of funny to be dressed for church when the kids are just getting up...

I love dress up!

Joseph got me some paint supplies, I hope to find the time to start painting again!

And there we have it. Ben doesn't care about his gifts, he just wants Sarah's

When Joseph first brought him out of his room,he looked at his toy and just laid on the floor.  It was too early!!

We had a wonderful Christmas program at church and my whole family came to be with us. It was so nice because not only did we have all of my family (minus Phillip and his clan) but Joseph's side was there too.


After church we headed to the Jennings for a little while. We opened presents and had a wonderful  Christmas lunch.

Grace discovered how ticklish her cousin Ben is... SO cute!

We had a great day! But next year I'm going to make it more simple...