Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone,

What do you know, I'm posting my Christmas pictures before the start of the new year! How about that! Almost in real time for once. Maybe with the new year this trend will stick. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Our Christmas was great! Grandma came up Christmas Eve and we sat around enjoying our time together. Mom made a yummy candlelight dinner and then we ended up having a candlelight service at our own house. We thought about heading over to the church but the first of two services didn't start until my bedtime and mom and dad thought it might be a bit much for me. We're all hoping maybe next year will be the first one I get to attend. We sang some carols and Christmas hymns, then dad read the Christmas story (you know from Luke chapter 2), and then I retold the Christmas story using my book titled Jesus Is Born. Then we all lit our candles, mom prayed and then we blew our candles out. It was nice and relaxing.

Christmas morning dawned and we enjoyed a yummy breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and apple banana salad while watching the original version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I know, not very religious, but that's one of the reasons why we focused on Jesus' birth at our Christmas Eve service, that way we could make sure to focus on it without all the hoopla of gifts and such.

After our great opener, we had a leisurely time of opening gifts. Mom and dad said they love it when you can tell I have gotten something I enjoy. Everything stops and I just want to play with that toy right then and who cares about other presents! This year one of my favorites was a horse rescue truck with a trailer. I can't believe mom and dad haven't gotten a picture of me with it yet.

This was also the year that I got my first official bike! Yes, I have a trail-a-bike or tag-along (I don't think I've shown you pictures of that yet) which is my bike that rides behind dad's bike. I also had a little bike with training wheels that mom got from the consignment store but after my big wreck on that this past summer I didn't want to touch it with a ten foot pole. Finding this bike was quite the chore though. Mom and dad decided this would be the first Christmas where I would receive a big gift and have to find it using clues. I'll tell you what they are and then you can see if you can guess.

Clue #1 - I am wearing pink. I am your baby. I love to ride in a stroller. Who am I? Did you guess Avigail?

Clue #2 - You come to me often in the winter. I help wipe runny noses. I am soft and white. What am I? Yeah, I had a hard time with this one too. It was the kleenex box. I finally got it after mom read the clue a couple of times.

Clue #3 - I am fast. I am blue. Sometimes you call me "bling bling". Who am I? Yep, Lightning McQueen in my car tub.

Clue #4 - I am where you check for letters, cards, and packages. I get decorated in the fall and winter. Where am I? Once I was told that letters, cards, and packages are mail I knew to go right to the front porch.

Once there, I found a very large box that I promptly opened only to find a little homemade ornament of a wooden skuut bike. With the ornament was a little note that said "Try the other porch". Well, wouldn't you know my bike was sitting right on the back porch the whole time. Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!! Oh, and our picture in front of the tree this year was a casual one on Christmas morning. No need to get dressed up to spend the day relaxing, right! It's a pj kind of day.

Until next time . . .