Christmas Day

Christmas day was good . . . different, but good.  We are used to being surround by lots of family for the entire day, traveling from house to house, seeing family, opening presents, eating food, seeing more family, opening more presents, eating more food.  It starts early in the morning and continues on until late at night.  It's my favorite day of the year.  So, as Christmas day was approaching this year, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I knew it wouldn't be the same, but I didn't want it to feel like just any other day of the year.  We did lots to prepare for Christmas, we decorated, we had a party, we read the nativity story, we searched for Santa.  We did well preparing, but I was still uncertain about how Christmas day would turn out.  I was pleasantly surprised. 

Michael got up with the kids around 6:00 and let me sleep until a little after 7:00.  We were a bit worried about the kids staying upstairs the whole time, but they didn't even ask about the presents!  When I got up, I went downstairs and heated up our Christmas morning breakfast . . . gingerbread!!  I found a Betty Crocker box of gingerbread when we were in Singapore a couple of months ago.  That was a great buy!  It was delicious and a wonderful start to the day.  The kids and I made it on Christmas Eve.

After we had breakfast, we headed downstairs to open presents.  We timed it so we could call the grandparents, and they could watch the kids open some of their presents.  The timing was a little hard since the grandparents went to Christmas Eve services, but it ended up working out nicely.  Michael set up the video camera, one of us was taking pictures, and the other one had a phone to face time grandparents.  We all had a great time.  My favorite thing that Paisley did was that each time she opened a present, she would super sweetly say, "oh!" as if it were her favorite present and she was so excited to get it.

Truett waiting to go downstairs

I think they ended up with some really good presents.   Family members mostly sent money so we could go buy their presents.  Sounds like lots of fun, but a little bit harder here than one might think.  There aren't may quality toy stores around these parts.  There are lots of toy stores, but they aren't very good quality. Since we had the money to spend, we went to the higher end toy stores and got presents that will last.  They were more expensive, but they won't break within a week.  There are only a couple of these stores that we know of.  It's was kind of hard to spend all of that money in one or two stores, but I won't complain.  It was fun thinking of each kid and what to buy.  They really loved each of their presents.  Here are some pictures of them playing with their new toys.

So, after the presents were opened and toys were played with, we headed off to lunch.  A friend recently told me about a little cafe on this other side of town.  So, we bundled up (okay, not really, but it's a Christmas story, so I felt like that should be in there), and headed to ViaVia Cafe.  Apparently it's a chain, and they have them in other countries.  Look it up, cool place.  They had a Christmas day special that Michael and I got, but I only took a picture of the appetizer.  Oops!

The kids had jaffles, kinda like a panini

Not the cutest picture, but Paisley was proud of her red mustache!

Later in the afternoon, our family went to deliver goodies to our neighbors.  We made chocolate/peanut butter fudge.  I think the neighbors were surprised, but appreciative.  A couple have come back over the past couple of days with snacks for us in return.  I hope we continue this tradition.  I want the kids to enjoy the giving part of Christmas, not just the getting.

In the evening, a couple of neighbors and a classmate of Michael's stopped by.  I was glad to see them, but by that time I was just ready for bed!

So, all in all, I would say that our first Christmas away from family was a whopping success.  We got to talk to family, spend time playing with new toys, give to our neighbors, and welcome others into our home.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!