The Three Days of Christmas 2015

Tons of pictures...and hopefully not a lot of words :)

Christmas Eve

The kids waiting patiently to open their gifts from Grandpa and Grandma...

Minecraft books

Fox puzzle and calendar

Scott Sterling Studio C t-shirt

Ben acting very uninterested in opening his gift...

They were all spoiled with individual gifts from Uncle Jo too.

Star Wars wall art...

Chocolate and a fuzzy blanket...

Chess set with a coupon for 5 games :)

And a Thomas track set...

Christmas Day

Ben usually doesn't sit with the kids in this picture in front of the tree.  He's usually pretty grumpy and refuses.

This year, he sat with them but would not sit still :)

We finally got a pretty good one :)

Ben was just as interested in opening presents as he was the night before.

For the kids' main gifts they each got a kendama which are really popular among the kids at school right now.  Also, I had a favorite picture of each of them blown up and put on a 16 by 20 inch canvas for their rooms.

Andy put his artistic talents to work and did some wood burning for the boys.

He chose a scripture for each of the kids that he felt applied to them.

For Abby he chose the scripture in Esther about 'coming to the kingdom for such a time as this' but he wanted to do hers in vinyl for her wall and he wanted her to help choose the font and a picture to go with it.  

I was very impressed with his free handing of the Sacred Grove.

Ben's scripture is in John chapter 9 about the works of God being made manifest in him.  Andy is planning on doing vinyl for him also.

I'm so disappointed because I know I took several groupings of pictures that I can't find anywhere...camera or phone but I absolutely know I took them!

Some cute ones of Ben in his santa hat, pictures of Abby opening a few, small gifts for Honey and some with each of the kids with their canvases.  I am stumped.  They've just disappeared.  Has anyone else ever had this happen?

We went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house again and played several games.  We got some awesome ones this year....Snake Oil...

Telestrations...

Both are party type games that can be pretty hilarious if you have the right kind of players...

...like these two clowns

Our favorite strategy game at the moment is called Splendor.  

It's great because it's not too complicated and it doesn't take forever to play.

Mom and Dad graciously took turns reading books and playing ball with Ben

(Below, Dad's curled up in a sleeping bag resting)

Ben ended up asking for the "neigh" movie (Tangled) and so we set him up and played some more games as afternoon turned into evening.

We ended our visit with the lighting of Mom's German nativity.

The Day After Christmas

My dad's side of the family usually has their Christmas party on this day.

Here's Ben playing with my cousins little girl...

Two of my cute cousins playing with my kids...

I had to add the picture on the left because it looks like Abby decided to be an angel :)

Grandma opened Ben's present for him :)

Jo and Andy watching the festivities...

Ben really enjoyed his Mickey Mouse book.  He was dancing to the music it played by moving his head back and forth...

Grandma "O." shared some memories of Grandpa who has been gone for 8 years now.

We had a delightful holiday and are so grateful for the chance to celebrate our Savior's birth with family and loved ones!