Catching Up - Part I

Whew! It's been a busy couple of days! The Shirley's celebrated Christmas a day early this year, to ensure we had plenty of quality time with Amy, Matt, and Hayden. It actually was very nice, because it afforded Jason and I more time w/other friends & family on Christmas Day. More on that later.... for now, here's how 12/24 was celebrated:

First we visited & worked our way through muffins & hot cocoa. It takes some of us a good while to wake up enough to tackle strenuous tasks, like opening gifts.

Hayden loves to be outside, and for some reason known only to other one year olds, he was really enjoying walking from the threshhold to the mat to the pavement, over and over again. Must have been experimenting with the different textures and temps of the surfaces.

Playing peek-a-boo

Next we had a family devotional. Every Christmas morning, immediately before opening gifts, my dad reads the Christmas story from Luke, shares with us what's on his heart, and closes with a prayer. This yearly tradition is so special to me; I appreciate the bond it provides for my family, and it always sets just the perfect mood for our gift exchange.

Amy & Matt had a book made for all the grandparent; it covers Hayden's first year, in pictures. It was very sweet and brought my mom to tears, which means Amy is again the favorite daughter. :-)


Hayden is already a gift-opening pro!

Next we ate a delicious meal of ham & all the fixins - Mom did a fantastic job! She always sets a beautiful table and even though we were missing spinach casserole, I enjoyed every bite.

Hayden tried to supplement his meal with a Wiseman from the Fisher Price Nativity scene. (Fortunately the Wiseman was rescued, a bit slobbery, but he'll be fine.)

We also played a new game, Apples to Apples, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for a lively game to play with a crowd.

We had a wonderful, memorable Christmas with my family. It was a great ending to a fun-filled 2 week vacation with the Rogers. I already miss them terribly, and I am working hard to get over the fact that Amy won't let Hayden move in with us. I'll just have to start planning another visit soon.