The Twelth Day of Christmas!

Wow! What a day! Christmas was, as always, an exciting, happy, exhausting day at our house. We began our celebration on Christmas Eve at my family's home with a scrumptious dinner, followed by our annual traditions:

The acting out of the nativity (which Nick illustrated on his blog) complete with our newest niece as the Christ child. The kids all had fun and I must say, my husband makes a great donkey! Next, we read a humorous, but sweet Christmas story which was written this year by my dad and his sibs. This was followed by the kids, including my three plus a nephew, singing a few very enthusiastic Christmas songs that they had been working on. My youngest brother and sister also played piano pieces that they've been working on. And as her piano teacher, I just have to say Lori is doing great! She is a much more accomplished pianist than she was a year ago.

After that, we all joined in some Christmas Carols, finishing off the vocalizing with our own version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. N was so kind as to keep track of what we sang for us, so I've included it here. Each person in the room got to pick what we sang for one of the days, and we very loudly and boisterously sang all twelve verses:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...a Partridge in a pair of underwear (we have Garfield.com and my nine-year-old to thank for that one!)
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...two million gold
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...three baby dolls
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...four christmases
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Five happy kids
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... six level 80's (world of warcraft thing)
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...seven weeks of vacation
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... eight robots with lasers
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... nine extra large pizzas
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... ten Batman movies
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...eleven chocolate kisses
On the twelth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...twelve pounds of candy!

So, now you know the deepest desires of the hearts of my dear family members! ;) To be honest, they're probably the only ones who'll read this anyway! After all the chaotic but cheerful celebrating we had a calm moment when my oldest son was asked to read to us the account of Christ's birth from my great-grandmother's old family bible. That was the point at which I promptly turned into a pile of mush; hearing those beautiful words proclaiming the good tidings of great joy coming from the mouth of my child. He read them well, not stuttering nearly as much as usual and each word was said with feeling. It was one of those "Perfect Mommy Moments" when you realize why you do what you do. And you know it's all worth it.

By the time we had finished our bowls of ice cream and retrieved our coats, boots and mittens from all over the house, and drove past all the joyful Christmas lights on our way home, my kids were actually about ready for bed. (Rare, but wonderful!) Nick and I began our last few projects and were finally in bed by 3 am!

Thankfully, the kids slept in and we enjoyed a few blissful hours of rest until my brother called at 8 am to see when we were coming to open presents. We woke the kids who were thrilled and excited with the gifts they received, from Santa and from us. I have to admit I was a little worried about whether or not they would like the lapdesks I got them, because they are a bit schoolish. But they loved them! They each got one with their name painted on it and a fun design. Nick made pillowcases with pictures of them as video game characters using super-powers to defeat the bad guys, and they were ecstatic!

I was going to add some pics here, but my phone was left at the in-laws, so I'll have to add them later.

I forgot to mention that when we got home on Christmas Eve there was a pile of presents on our doorstep, with no mention who they were from. We also opened these and were all pleased with the nice new clothes (perfectly sized), and new toys for the kids. It was a truly sweet anonymous blessing and very much appreciated.

We then proceeded to do more present-swapping at my family's then at Nick's family's, followed by a supremely tender Prime Rib dinner with all his family. It was a day full of love and kindness and family, everything I think a Christmas Day should be and my heart is full of gratitude for the gift of the Savior and all that He has made possible for us.