Christmas in OH

First Christmas in Ohio...

Alexis woke up at 4 a.m. Christmas morning, then woke up her big sister. Together they went to the family room to see what Santa had left for them. Ariel told Alexis that they had to go back to bed. Believe it or not they did! Aaron woke them up around 8 a.m. and then Alexis made sure to round up Mom and Dad.

We had a cold start to the Christmas present opening. It was 60 degrees inside, which made Daddy's first stop the basement. A quick check on the furnace found the pilot light had gone out. Thank the Lord it was an easy fix! We got warmed up quickly and the paper started flying.

The wish lists this year: Aaron wanted a Hollister Christmas, Ariel wanted an American Girl Doll Christmas, and Alexis wanted more Barbie stuff and an American Girl Doll too. I know Santa had some assembly required on the Barbie house, but he got it all ready before 4 a.m. arrived!

Santa made Ariel's Christmas with the American Girl Doll. Ariel had been saving her money for an MP3 player. She was thrilled to open one Christmas morning from Mom and Dad. She also got the David Archuleta CD that Daddy helped her load on her new player. She was a very happy 10 year old!

Alexis got the Barbie house she had requested from Santa, but informed me the laptop was NOT the one she wanted because it was not like cousin Jordan's. Silly Santa messed that one up, but she loved the tiny Barbie laptops. She got two in her set so all ended up well in her world. She got American Girl Doll stuff from Mom and Dad. I wasn't sure Alexis really wanted the AGD or if she was just following her big sister? She is enjoying her doll and all the "stuff" that came with her.

Aaron kinda helped pick out all of his Christmas this year. He knew about all his big gifts! He had to fight off some girls at the mall while picking out his new shoes. They followed him into the store and watched him try on the shoes. He has hit the age where clothes and shoes make the cut for presents. I hope we get 3 months wear on the new stuff...the boy is growing up way too fast! He has grown two inches since May.

I got a very special gift from my son this year. The past few weeks he has been sharing with me about his wood shop class. I got a very nice apple-shaped cutting board. He even gift wrapped it for me...all by himself.... with orange duct tape, and black electrical tape. He will hate this picture since he has his eyes closed, but what a fine job of wrapping by the 13 year old!

The girls got some nice Warm Vanilla Sugar things for me from Bath & Body.



Daddy knew about one of his gifts a little early too. He wanted a replacement for one of his tools that wasn't working properly. On the drive home from shopping for Dad I reminded the girls we could not tell him about his gifts. We got home and were putting away our coats when I heard Alexis in the bathroom talking to James. James was putting in new towel racks, toilet paper holders, and such. She saw his tools, including the one he wanted replaced, and very innocently said, "Oh, you are using your new one already." He knew he wasn't using any new tools and said, "No." He said you could see she immediately realized what she had done, and was crushed. Her brother and sister made sure to give her a hard time. She went to her room crying. Being a seven year old can be very hard. Daddy assured her that tool was just what he wanted and it would make his projects much easier. He still got a surprise because he didn't know about the digital photo frame they got too.

We had a wonderful Christmas day. God continues to bless us in all aspects of our life. I am so thankful that Jesus came to Earth to be the greatest gift we could ever receive. I pray you have received Him this Christmas season.

Vonna