Christmas was extra magical this year. From the minute Thanksgiving ended, we have been talking about Christmas and what it means to have three small children who are excited about the Christmas season and the magic of Santa Claus. We weren’t sure who would sleep less...the kids or us. The build-up this year has been more than usual. Aside from talking about Santa and thinking about Santa non-stop, we knew we were planning a trip to Florida to see the Srigley’s for New Year’s a few months ago. But, it turned in to a full week with them when plans with Tracey and Jerry fell through because of Tracey’s new job with AT&T. So, the thought of being in Florida with the Srigley boys for a whole week was super exciting to the kids. Plus, there were school parties, neighborhood parties, Secret Santa exchanges and days off from school. And then when the weathermen started predicting the possibility of snow, the excitement meter went through the roof. We went to bed on Christmas Eve with much anticipation of Santa’s arrival. Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and Aunt Jenny had spent the night with us so they could enjoy all the excitement as well. Ally came bounding in our room at 5:15 asking if she and Kelsey could play in their room for a few minutes until it was time to get up. We had told them no earlier than 6:00...so she knew they had time to kill. We asked her if Santa had come and she said she didn’t want to look until they were allowed to get up. We got up by 6:00 and the girls looked over the walkway to see that Santa had come and left a big pile of presents to open. They ran downstairs to find their new dolls and a market tote with their names on it from mommy and daddy. Drew had gotten a new, ride-on 4-wheeler with Buzz Lightyear on it from us. But, sitting beside the 4-wheeler was a brand new train table with all the tracks and tunnels and bridges set-up and ready to go. Santa had been busy at our house. We got Drew up and as soon as he looked over the edge and saw the train table, he almost jumped out of my arms to get to it. He was so excited. He slid all the way down the stairs and ran over to it as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him. Drew spent most of the morning playing with his toys as he unwrapped them. By nightfall, he still hadn’t opened everything. By 10:00, we had eaten a small breakfast and torn through all the girls gifts and family gifts. The girls loved their new dolls and were excited to play with the new things they had gotten...the Ramona and Beesus DVD, Hannah Montana CD’s, Tangled games and books, luggage and new clothes. But, hidden behind the tree wrapped in sparkly silver wrapping paper were several gifts left for the Jackson Family. When we opened them, we discovered Santa had brought us a Wii and several games and controllers to go with it. We were all so excited we had to get it out and play with it immediately. But, we couldn’t...it was time to go to Aunt Jackie and Uncle Stefan’s house. So, we piled in the car and headed over there for brunch and more gift opening and delivering. The girls were excited to hand out our presents to them and they were just as excited to get presents form them. Ally got a super cool ipod shuffle of her very own and Kelsey got her own CD player for her room. But, best of all, while we were visiting with the Blum’s, snow started falling and sticking to the ground. Kelsey had wished and prayed for snow on Christmas and she was getting her wish. She was glued to the window, watching it come down. By the time we got home for nap and lunch, the snow was really starting to fall and it looked like we might actually have enough to play in it. And, by night fall, the temps had dropped and it was sticking and accumulating. We had gone over to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson’s house to finish up our Christmas day and had to call it a night by 6:30 so that we could get home safely in the slush, ice and snow. While we were at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, we opened gifts with them. They had saved the best for last. Grandpa John had given the kids a play set for the back yard...something we have been wanting for a LONG time. And then, Grandma and Grandpa had given the girls their Christmas present. They opened up gifts with embroidered shirts in them that had glass slippers on them and Drew’s had a crown that said Prince Charming. We were heading to Disney in February!!!! Yay!!!! The kids were very excited and tried their best to be excited about such a big gift after a long, full day of fun. We know as the days get closer, we will be counting down the days until we see the big mouse. The kids went to bed as soon as we got home and we weren’t far behind them. It had been a day filed with tons of fun and excitement and we were all exhausted.
The kids spent the next day playing in the snow while we cleaned up the house for our trip to Florida. Christmas had come down faster than it went up and we were getting ready for the next part of our vacation. Enjoy all of our Christmas pics on the Shutterfly site. Here are just a few to get you started.
http://therealjacksonfive.shutterfly.com
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