I heard the bells on Christmas day!

Christmas day is always full of action at our house! Once the kids have opened and savored their Christmas gifts, we have a huge pancake and sausage breakfast. This is Rob's baby. He has done it every year since I don't remember when.

One great thing about this Christmas is that we were able to talk to Jordan on the phone. It seems like it has been so long since he has been here. We miss him so much, but we really are so thankful for what he is doing. He is doing great and loves serving as a missionary in Honduras. He loves the people there, even though sometimes it can get frustrating. The joys far outweigh the frustrations and he loves serving the Lord. We missed having him here for this special day, but we know he will be home the next time Christmas is here. For now, we just enjoy receiving his letters and pictures and look forward to our next call on Mother's Day!

Here are some pictures of all the fun:

Later we went to my mom's house for Christmas dinner. Here are a few pictures of us lounging there.

'Twas the night before Christmas!

Every Christmas Eve we go to my sister's house for a big celebration. It started out many years ago in my parents' small house. However, the family has grown so much that it has had to move elsewhere. My sister, Madonna, and her husband are kind enough to open their home to a LOT of people each Christmas Eve! This includes my parents and all of their children, children's spouses and their children. Sometimes we even have extra people too. Not everyone in the family can attend due to where they live though. It is a lot of fun! We have an annual talent show. Then we eat lots of food and open presents.

After we leave the party, we go looking at Christmas lights with our own family. It has been a tradition for my parents to come. This year it was only my mom though. My dad always counted the Nativity scenes and complained that there were not enough of those and that people were forgetting the true meaning of Christmas. This year we counted 31 Nativity scenes in his behalf! One house we go to every year has a live Santa in the yard handing out toys. That house is always our first stop! :)

Then we come back home and read the Christmas story and pray as a family. This year the kids opted to save their presents to each other and open them after the big family party in the quietness of our home. Then we left out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Brailyn left the sweetest note for Santa this year. She wrote: Dear Santa, Thank you for coming to our house. I love you! Merry Christmas! Thanks for all you bring: joy, happiness, and presents! Love, Brailyn
She is such a sweetheart! This year they all were so Santa came to all! I hope you all had as happy of a Christmas as we did!

Run, run fast as you can......You can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!

The kids got a Gingerbread kit for Christmas. Here they are having fun and acting nutty while putting it together. Brianna was also having fun and experimenting on Brailyn's hair so I will put some pictures at the bottom of the finished product.

Here is the hairstyle Brianna gave Brailyn: