Merry Christmas

 Nathan and Charlotte were so excited to wake up Christmas morning. They found that Santa brought them lots of goodies! Nathan got a huge Lego set, a new pair of Nike shoes, and a protein shaker from Santa. From us, he got the new Air Pods, and Charlotte got him a cinch sack. Charlotte got a new LOL OMG, a protein shaker, and a Hydroflask. From us, she got the new Air Pods (air pods pro) and Nathan got her a carrying case for her switch. In a way, this Christmas was nice because the items they wanted were more expensive. It's like they got less things, but it cost more money :) Plus Daddy got me and himself Air Pods too! I think that is the best gift I've ever had! We did have to make 2 exchanges of Santa's gifts. Nathan thought his shoes were a bit too small so we got a bigger size. And Charlotte didn't like that her Hydroflask was the small one...she wanted to big one. So ungrateful, lol!!! Mama and Papa came over later in the day for lunch and to see what Nathan and Charlotte got. No one else came to visit this year so it was kind of relaxing to have a quiet Christmas. The last two pics are from New Year's...a nice quiet New Year's eve just the 4 of us. I love it that way!

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

The candlelight service was the first time we had returned to church in person since last March. Everyone was wearing masks and they had the pews spaced so that there was an empty one in between each row. We sat on one end and another family sat on the other end. We also sat towards the back so we felt good about being there. It was beautiful like always. This is always Charlotte and Nathan's favorite Christmas activity. While we were sitting, waiting for the service to start, a toddler from the family sitting next to us kept walking over to me. She was so cute, probably around 18 months old. She would smile at me and laugh at me. She'd walk back to her parents and then over to me and give me a piece of paper. I didn't mind because she was so sweet and cute...I swear babies/kids always find me. Anyway, once the service started, she still would walk over to me. We were praying and she was taping on my knee and trying to take my glasses then she stepped backwards and totally fell underneath the pew in front of me! It scared me to death and I yelled "Oh Shit!" During the prayer! I'm trying to get her up, she's crying, and I'm sweating bullets. Nathan and Charlotte are mortified and Wayne is acting like he doesn't know me. I finally get her up and she waddles back to her parents. I'm like please stay over there now. It was funny afterwards but gave me so much anxiety during the service! The rest of the service was beautiful. Afterwards, we went to Mama and Papa's house. We had a wonderful dinner and then opened presents. Nathan and Charlotte were SO EXCITED about their present as you can see in teh pictures. Mama and Papa got them virtual reality glasses. How cool!

More Getting Ready for Christmas!

Santa surprised the kids by calling them from the North Pole. I was a video chat, and Charlotte, Pearce, and Nathan were so excited! They each got to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas and just talk to him for a while. He was so great with them! When we got home from Austin, we opened this book that Adalynn gave Charlotte that was filled with "challenges." We only did one and it said...use a roll of toilet paper to make a Christmas sweater :) It was funny, but I could tell Wayne hated that we were wasting a roll of perfectly good toilet paper, lol! And then Charlotte went to Mama's house for her annual cookie baking and sewing sleepover. She made some delicious cookies and treats and also a cute little snowman. When she got home, she made a 2nd one all by herself and then wrote a sweet note and delivered it to Miss Barbara next door.