After the candlelight service, we actually got a family picture. Yay!
Hannah wore one of my Christmas dresses. My brothers had matching john-johns. It melts my heart seeing her in dresses that I once wore. But it also makes me realize just how fast she is growing up if she fits in some of these clothes!
The kids slept kinda late on Christmas Day. Joseph woke up around 7:15 and came into our room and cuddled in our bed. Hannah woke up around 8. We checked out what Santa left and did our stockings before having breakfast and opening the rest of the presents.
Santa brought bean bag chairs and stockings full of goodies!
Joseph was excited that Momma's camera was out and accessible. {I'll have you know that I tried to take pictures with that camera, but because of the bad lighting I took almost every picture with my phone. Ugh…need a better camera lens.}
At breakfast, we stuck candles in our cinnamon rolls and sang happy birthday to Jesus.
Then it was present-opening time and, as in years past, it took hours. Not because of the number of gifts, but because every gift has to be opened, put together, tried on, played with, examined…before going on to the next one. I love it!
Hannah gave Joseph an umbrella. He was super excited…and she was excited to no longer have him play with hers!
Joseph got a Georgia Tech jersey (and what a year to get one!) and a trailer for his tractor:
I'm not sure what was the biggest hit. Wait, yes I am: the vacuum.
"My very own vacuum! Wow! Mom, that's pretty cool! My very own vacuum!!!" And that's what we call it: his very own vacuum. He was all over the place on Christmas Day and every day since cleaning up messes. His sweet sister tore bits of wrapping paper so he would have something to pick up right away. It's been said, "Joseph got a vacuum. Momma got a maid."
And Hannah got Anna's coronation day gown:
She was pretty thrilled with that. She also loved her marker tower (from Josey), Mary Poppins movie (from Chloe and Mollie), metallic sparkly pink jeans and Navy t-shirt. In fact, she put on the last two and wore them for two days straight. You can see them below.
Another present I couldn't wait for Joseph to open was his wet floor sign. He loves to mess with them when out in public, and now he has one - yep - of his very own!
Meme came to town and brought a bunch of fun things, too. In going with the cleaning theme, he got a janitor cart complete with a mop and bucket.
For Hannah, she gave a dollhouse.
It was a labor of love, as wallpapering, painting and selecting furniture took quite some time. Thankfully, we had the dollhouse itself assembled for us at the store, so at least that part was done! Meme and I enjoyed making it special and it was totally worth it. She's played with it for hours (and hours) already. For the first few days after Christmas (and until we went out of town), I barely saw my child.
Uncle Ben and Aunt Katie came on Christmas Day, too. We had a fancy dinner together on our special Christmas china. There was dessert (a 10-layer chocolate cake that friends gave us) and more present opening.
We ended the day with our nightly story time on the living room sofa reading Christmas books, then we opened our Sparkle Box and read the gifts we gave to Jesus this Christmas.
I was delighted with how much the children wanted to be involved in filling the Sparkle Box. They loved doing for others throughout Advent, and it became a special - and big - part of our Christmas season.
Gran Gran and Poppy came to town on the 27th. We opened presents, went out to lunch and played in the backyard. {My car battery also died and had to be replaced that day.}
Joe was surprised and happy to receive a very fancy power trainer for his bike. It is a major upgrade from his old one and will be a very effective training tool.
We headed outside where Joe and I modeled my new scarf and his new sweater (thanks Sarah and Betsy!), and Joseph loaded up his new wheel barrow in his trailer.
On Sunday afternoon, the 28th, we drove to St. Simons Island for a young family clergy retreat. {The A/C in my car completely died on the way there. Doesn't seem like it would be a big deal in late December, but it was 80 degrees outside, and very warm in the car.}
It was a good time with fellow friends in the ministry and so fun getting all our children together. Hannah played the role of Sven in the Frozen play the kids performed and loved running around with all the girls. Joseph was all about the fire pit.
From SSI we went to Savannah where we spent the next 27 hours. We took my car to the dealership where we discovered the evaporator cable needed to be replaced. This requires a lot of labor and therefore a lot of $$. {The week before Christmas we found out I needed four new tires, so in case you are keeping track, that's a very unfortunate week of car issues.}
We did have a nice time, though, enjoying a lovely dinner with Joe's parents at Elizabeth's on 37th, an old Savannah favorite. It was Gran Gran and Poppy's 47th anniversary. A very happy couple we love!
I promised Hannah I'd take a picture of "Elizabeth's house", so here it is:
We spent the morning of New Year's Eve downtown where we made our annual visit to the Cathedral to see "Baby Jesus" and the beautiful, elaborate nativity scene. Hannah also really liked the poinsettia tree, which featured a ruffled version of the plant this year.
We warmed up with lattes and hot chocolate at Starbucks on Broughton Street. It was a leisurely visit as you can tell by the lounging:
After a little shopping and running around Ellis Square for a bit, we grabbed a pedicab (our first!) before eating lunch.
We loaded up our loaner and drove home to Sandersville to celebrate a quiet New Year's Eve…
…and to cheer on Georgia Tech!!!
The Jackets beat Mississippi State 49-34 in the Orange Bowl, ending the season 11-3! It was a fantastic way to end the year.
And that wraps up our Christmas and New Years. Wishing you a blessed 2015!
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