Christmas 2018

About noon time on Christmas Eve, we got to visit with Ruth for just over an hour. She is looking good and doing well, and it was wonderful to talk to her. So much as happened since Mother's Day. We had a lot to discuss and catch up on.

 As it grew dark, we started a fire outside. It took a while to get our wet wood burning well. Some of the family stayed indoors to finish up dinner preparations, and other things. I sat by the fire with the kids for a couple of hours singing carols and star gazing.

 Eventually the whole family made it out to the fire. We sat and sang carols under the stars. The night was clear and a little crisp-- a perfect night to sing about the Savior underneath the stars.

 Most of us have large portions of Luke 2 memorized. Kate and Johnny and Rachel have nearly the whole chapter committed to memory. We recited the scriptures together outside by the fire and under a beautifully starry sky.

 After pointing out the constellations, singing a good many carols, and reciting Luke 2, we decided to recite the story of the Grinch as many of us have large portions of that book memorized.

 I really loved our camp fire Christmas Eve. There's something wonderful about being out in nature while thinking about the Savior.

When all was done, we went inside for our traditional shepherd's dinner of naan bread, lamb, and pomegranates.  By then, the family was quite hungry, and our dinner went by fairly quietly.

 Christmas morning, the kids slept until 8am, and then Sam came and crawled in to my bed and cuddled up next to his warm dad, who wanted to continue to sleep.

 Eventually all the kids joined us in our room and made space for each other on our bed. I love these happy faces.

 I joked with them a little about having a big breakfast first, and then having to clean up and wash all the dishes before even getting to their stockings. Then I joked with them that Sam could decide when we could go open presents. When we asked Sam, he promptly said no. He wanted to stay cuddled in bed.

 Susan understands about Christmas morning now. She was full of joy and excitement and so fun to watch.

Susan can blow up balloons and is only 4 years old. While I took this picture, Rachel confessed to only being able to blow balloons up for the first time this fall.

We had a lot of people help us out this year. My mom bought all the kids warm jackets and a small gift. We had other people give us money. We mainly used the money to pay our bills, but we also provided a small Christmas. This jacket that my mom got Johnny is my favorite gift. He has not had a warm jacket that fits him for some time now, and he is always cold. This jacket will be worn a lot. I suspect he will even sleep in it.

Joseph and Joshua asked for their own chess game. My mom got it for them, and it was the first thing they did after the presents were opened.

When this box of crayons was opened, a great many of the kids cheered.

We had a lot of homemade gifts including lego creations that the kids made for each other. They were all quite happy with what they made.

Rachel had a heavy gift that we said she had to walk across the room before she could open it.

This is the game my mom got for the 4 oldest kids. They were all very happy about it.

Joseph painted this picture for Josh because he loves fish and whales.

Rachel painted this for Susan.

And Anya painted this for John.

Most of the kids got clip boards from the dollar store. They were all very happy about that. They are good for homeschool and excellent for drawing.

 Later in the day, John took the kids out to play a family game of soccer. And then they came in to the hot meal that was lovingly sent to us. It came from Honey Baked ham, and was plenty of food and delicious. I especially loved having a big Christmas dinner that I did not have to prepare.

We definitely had a Merry Christmas!