Nate and Uncle Scott
Uncle Scott helping Nater put together a train set that he got on Christmas Eve!
Opening presents on Christmas morning!
Daddy and Nate BOTH got tools for Christmas!
Hanging out at my cousin's for Christmas dinner!
We were blessed with a wonderful Christmas, full of family and a TON of presents! You could sure tell that Nater is the ONLY grandchild on both sides...it looked as if Toys R Us threw up in our family room after all the presents were open!
My brother, Joshua, and my mom all came in on the 23rd. We went to the Christmas Eve service at church and then headed down to Garnett to spend Christmas Eve at my in-laws. As always, my mother-in-law made a fabulous dinner and they were far too generous with gift-giving! I just LOVE my in-laws!!! We had a fabulous time hanging out and made it back to KC just in time to leave cookies out for Santa.
Christmas morning was a blast! I think I was one of the first ones up...I am not sure who was more excited...me or Nater! Christmas morning is fun again now that there is a child around and the magic of Christmas and Santa come alive once again! I really wish that I would have had a camcorder on Nate when I woke him up. He wanted nothing with getting out of bed UNTIL I said, "Santa came last night!" He popped out of bed so fast and wobbled around his room trying to navigate himself around! My brother and I were laughing hysterically and he finally made his way into the family room where he saw all the presents under the tree. We had a great time opening gifts together and we were really happy that we had others there to join in on the fun!
After that we packed up quickly and drove to St. Louis. There had been bad weather in the area just days before Christmas but the weather was perfect for our drive. There was snow on the ground but the roads were clear and we had an enjoyable drive. Bo George rode shotgun as Nate and I watched movies in the backseat. We arrived at my cousin's house in the afternoon, just in time for Christmas dinner. My Grandma had just been released from the nursing home the day before and it was wonderful to have her with the family on Christmas. I made my Grandma a scrapbook of my Grandpa and she enjoyed looking through it over and over through the evening. I was so glad that she liked her gift and I enjoyed watching her walk down memory lane. Oddly enough we got the best present ever from none other than my Grandpa! We were sad to have our first Christmas without Grandpa but Dad and Joanie ended up finding 30 year old brand-new T-Shirts from my Grandpa's business and we all got one! I will have to post a picture of it because it is PRICELESS! Words cannot describe the humor...you gotta see it!
We headed to Dad and Joanie's and spent the night in the big town of Winfield, MO. We had a nice time visiting...AFTER Nate decided to elevate my Dad's blood pressure by taking a marker to his walls!!! Thankfully it was washable and no one was made to sleep outside in the snow.
All in all, we were immensely blessed this Christmas season. More importantly, we are thankful for the true gift that God gave us in sending His Son, Jesus to be our Savior. We may have been given many presents, but the true joy lies in the gift of Christ himself. I hope you all had a memorable Christmas and will remember the true meaning of Christmas year-round.
