If you have read my Christmas posts in the past you know that we celebrate Christmas three times each year. We have a big party at my brother’s house on Christmas Eve, presents around the tree on Christmas morning with just our little family, and then one more party at my in-law’s on Christmas day. As you can imagine that generates a lot of photographs. In order to get the gist of it all I employ collages. Here is a little piece of our world just for you.
Christmas Eve Favorites
everyone showing up early so we had extra time to talk and talk and talk
peppermint-Oreo Cold Stone ‘scream
a new baby to hold (bliss)
all those cutie-patootie kids – I love them all so much!
the Emperor and Darth Vader for innkeepers
Shonee, the sheep, carrying all the shepherds
laughing and talking and laughing some more
seeing our family get better with age
Christmas Morning Gifts
We all made presents for each other this year. The kids spent hours and hours on each other. It was amazing to see the energy and focus. Man, I love these kids. Although not every gift is pictured above, I have included a list of what they made. It’s a little treasure hunt: see how many you can find in the collage.
Djeryd: for Daddy – a guys-night-at-the-movies kit complete with A&W, lots of candy and popcorn; for Erik – a wooden Roman sword, shield and sheath; for Anna – a doll bed; for Alyx – a little pink purse
Erik: for Daddy – a library card (I realize this one was not made, but Sean had been complaining about his worn out library card so Erik secretly bought him a new one with his own money – I thought it was very thoughtful); for Djeryd – a wooden rifle; for Anna – a quilt for the doll bed Djeryd and Sean made; for Alyx – a quilt for her dolls
Anna: for Daddy – a “Hawk-n-Daughts” shirt (think Haagen-Daaz – if you remember for Father’s Day the boys gave Sean a “Hawk-n-Sons” t-shirt, and Anna thought it was high time for Daddy to have a shirt about his girls); Djeryd and Erik - “checkmarks” (i.e. bookmarks); for Alyx – “a strawberry skirt like mine so we can be twinners”
I made all the kids jammies and gave Sean a picture of the temple I took last summer and had blown-up and put on canvas, and a new family portrait I blew-up and framed.
Sean got me, well, let’s just say it wasn’t homemade and you can see its bright light being held in my hands. He made Anna’s bed with Djeryd and a portable soccer net for Erik. For Djeryd he built and painted a green screen. Huh? You know, when you see the “making of” segment of CGI movies where all the actors are in costume prancing around in front of green screen pretending there’s something there, when there really isn’t, but when you see it in the actual movies they are trotting around in a spaceship and being attacked by aliens – you know that? That’s what a green screen is. It makes it possible to add virtually any background or surrounding into your film. Djeryd really likes to make movies (mostly about Legos). Can you tell? My goodness, Sean was busy this year!
Christmas Day Highlights
Erik donning his sword and shield before church
Sean and the boys fighting to see what new wii game Aunt Heather gave them
my nephew proving that it is not only babies who enjoy playing in boxes
Lilly loving that Minnie Mouse purse
James jamming out Christmas-style on his groovy strings
missing Heather and Rachel – oh, how I wanted to see their faces when presents were opened
watching everybody visit and enjoy each other
observing the sweet relationships among us, like Erik loving his great-grandma the way he does
Alyx’s pink sparkle slippers
swapping crafty plans with my brother-in-law – the guy made everyone soap this year – like really cool soap
feeling like I could soak it all in this year – no stress, no anxiety, just beloved calm
1 comment:
Sounds like a fantastic Christmas! I had so much fun at Season and Sara's with everyone, as always. Where were Heather and Rachel?
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