The Big Man Stops Here!!

Christmas came and went in blur. But all of it was fun. We spent Christmas Eve hanging out with family and going to Church. Jackie had made a Christmas Eve lunch for all of us since I did Thanksgiving and it was very yummy. All the typical foods...ham, turkey, macaroni salad, shrimp cocktail, and sweets galore. After the lunch, we headed to church for the early kid's service where the girls went up on stage and played the hand bells. Everyone looked so nice dressed in their Christmas finest. And, when it was all said and done, we had filled up 2 and half pews with some of our closest family and friends for the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It was so nice to have and see everyone at Church with us. When we got home, we let the girls open their 1 Christmas present from us. Every year we get them each a new Christmas book and write a special message in it to remember the year. And then, when they are older and have their own house and kids, they will already have a full set of Christmas books to read and share with their kids. This year's choices were easy. For Ally we got the "Nutcracker"...because we went to see the Nutcracker this year with the girls and we knew she would enjoy reading the story about it. For Kelsey, we got "Auntie Claus"...a story about Santa's sister, who lives in NYC and travels to the North Pole every year to help Santa get through his busiest season. And Drew was super easy...he got "The First Christmas", because it was his first Christmas and because we want to make sure he always knows why we celebrate it. The plan was to read their stories to them, which was why we gave them their books on Christmas Eve, but it was late and they needed to get to bed. So we saved them for the next day. We put out cookies, carrots and milk for Santa and the reindeer and then they were off to bed. The next morning came quickly. Kelsey was actually the first one we heard, but it was because of her coughing and not for Christmas squeals. When we went in to see her, she finally sat up and asked if it was time to get up. By then, it was 6:45 so we tiptoed in to Ally's room to see if she was awake and she was already sitting up in her bed. They both came out and looked over the catwalk to see if Santa had visited and they were not disappointed...Santa had been there and left a huge stash of big and small presents under the tree. The girls were so excited. We walked in to Drew's room and woke him up...45 minutes early because there was no way either one of his sister's was waiting another 5 minutes to go down stairs. We all headed downstairs together and looked at all the stuff under our tree. Santa had been so good to us this year. he even brought us a new air hockey table that he had built and had sitting in our living room. We spent the next few hours unwrapping and playing with all our new toys. It took Drew a little while to get through all his presents, but he managed. One of the things Santa brought was a HUGE wall map to hang in our playroom. The girls always want to know where people live and where we are traveling to and it's hard for them to understand it unless they can see it. So, with this map, we hope to put a push pin in all the places we visit and all the places that people we know and love, live. But, when we walked in to the playroom to find a spot for the map, a brand new craft table had taken the place of our old one. It was super nice and came with 4 stools that had denim padding on the seats. Each kid had a drawer to put art supplies and it even had a roll of art paper that rolled over the top to draw on. That Santa is so tricky. One of the other favorites was a request from both girls...the Polly Pocket Roller Coaster Resort. And, we have played with it nonstop. Drew's favorite toy was the Little People Airport and we are so glad Santa brought that for him.
After we finished here, we headed over to the Blum's for some more Christmas presents and time with family. The kids played with each other's new toys and had fun giving gifts to each other. We headed home for nap after a lunch filled with yummy leftovers from Christmas Eve. And after nap, we went to see Grandma and Grandpa Jackson, Aunt Jenny and Great Grandpa John. They had gotten a few small things for the girls, but the big present this year was a trip to SeaWorld over spring break. Grandma and Grandpa know that these kiddos have everything they could ever want or need...we are very blessed and try not to take that for granted. So, for the past several years, they have adopted the theme of "Making Memories" instead of spending money on gifts that get old or broken. The past 2 years we've gone to Disney World. But this year, we are headed to see the big whale and all his friends. The girls were very excited to hear the news. Especially Kelsey who remembers being there a few years ago and not being able to ride the bouncy crab ride. So, she is much looking forward to riding all the rides this time. We spent the evening eating more yummy food and watching the movie "The Hangover" and then we headed home. Christmas day was lots of fun and tiring too. We're glad we have the next week off to rest up and play with all our new things.
Enjoy some of the pictures here and head to the Shutterfly site to see the rest.
http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com