Christmas Part 4: Our Family Christmas

Our family Christmas was wonderful from start to finish.  I could just eat those three kids up with a spoon.  They were so much fun and pure joy over Christmas.  It seems Matt and I were constantly saying, "did you see that? or did you hear what Harper just said, or what Hudson just said.  or go see what Holton is doing he is being SO cute right now."  Maybe it's the whole nostalgia of Christmas, but boy those kids were extra adorable Christmas weekend.  From start to finish, every minute, was wonderful.  Their pure, innocent, sheer joy is so contagious that you cannot wipe the smiles off of our faces.  We spent Friday just playing around the house and making our Christmas cookies.  Hudson and Harper loved doing it and it seems each year they get more and more into it.

Saturday we went to La Cantera and had our Christmas Eve late lunch at Grimaldi's.  We did this last year, and it seems to be a tradition that we hope to continue---YUM!  We usually love to attend our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service, but since Holt had been sick I did not want to put him in the nursery....so sadly, we missed this year.  It still was a great Christmas Eve.  After we ate at G's we went by our friends, The Laun's house, because they had a homemade apple pie right out of the oven waiting for us!  (did that ever make my man happy).  We visited with them for a little while, ran by HEB to grab a few items for our Christmas lunch the next day, and went home to get ready for bed.  This is the only night of the year the kids WANT to go to bed.  They are so cute and excited.  We put everyone in their cute jommies, read waaay to many books, watched a Christmas show on TV, and then tucked everyone in for bed.  This very well could have been my best Christmas Eve ever.

Grimaldi's watching the guys make the pizza.

Having some fun with mommy.

Family IPHONE pic....everyone sitting on the floor reading books and watching a Christmas movie.

Jack our Elf zip lining down to the kitchen.  (this was what the kids woke up to on Christmas Eve morning).

All ready for bed!

Such a beautiful picture.

I love this picture of Ace.

Santa came!

Holton's loot

Hud's loot

Harp's loot

THE LEGO PIRATE SHIPS.  2,000+ legos later, they were completed 2 days before Christmas.  Santa worked so hard putting in a couple of hours before bed for about a week working on these bad boys.  I think Santa wants a break from building Legos for a while.  :)

My most precious ornaments.  We made these back in October.  Hudson's is the Santa up at the top, Harper is the Rudolph with the eyelashes, and Holty's is the little Elf.  The kids picked out what they wanted their hand to be and painted these.  (of course we helped out with Holts).  What a treasure the little hands are....I know I will love putting them out each year.  (We gave a set to each set of grandparents this year too).

First look.....

Hudson and Harper exchanged gifts this year.  (wii games).

Look at this Christmas miracle.  HA!!  No-they were genuinely excited about their gift from each other.

Huddy was pretty pumped about his ships.

My little animal lover was a happy girl!

Yes, that would be the bone in Harper's mouth.

My love---his first Christmas was a perfect memory for me.

The rest of Christmas day was spent playing with toys, the Wii, & playing outside riding bikes.  The kids (and daddy) requested a BIG breakfast from mommy of eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy.  Because we had such a heavy breakfast we had a late lunch/early dinner around 4.  Matt grilled filets for us & little sirloins for the kids.  I fixed PW'S twice baked potatoes, mushrooms, (additional side of mac and cheese for kids), & Sister Schubert rolls.  It was delicious.  The rest of the evening was spent playing more and watching Home Alone.  We were all exhausted by the end of the day.  What a wonderful day it was.  I went to bed feeling so thankful for my house full of children, my husband that I love more than anything on this earth...too many blessings that I do not deserve.  But most importantly, more than anything else, I am so thankful for the true meaning of Christmas.  The miracle of Jesus' birth.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure...and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

Matthew 2:10-11

Merry Christmas my blog friends!  Love, The Mullins Family