Christmas Eve brought a full day of ministry for me. With rehearsal starting at noon that day and then three Christmas Eve experiences to follow, my holiday was spent in the presence of the Lord. Noah participated in the children's choir for one of the services. He sang "Joy to the World" and "Little Drummer Boy". After church, I headed home to meet up with Cody, Noah, my mom, sister and brother-in-law. We ate dinner and spent time opening presents from each other and our family up north in Wisconsin. We had a great time! Watching Noah open gifts with such a excitement is the best Christmas gift ever!
Our tree with all the presents!
On Christmas morning, Noah got us up around 7 am which is about the time he gets up for school. I'm glad it wasn't any earlier! He was too excited that he couldn't sleep any longer he said. Once Cody and I had rubbed the sleep out of our eyes and put on a pot of coffee, we were up ready to enjoy the morning with our boy.
First things first was opening our stockings. Noah got lots of candy and Lego people with Lego light sabers for all his guys. Santa left me a Francesca's gift card and Cody a book of prayers and candy.
Then it was time to open Santa's sack he left behind containing Noah's gifts and what do you know? Noah got everything he asked for!
From Santa: a transforming robot
From Santa: Star Wars Imaginext
From Santa: Swap Force video game
Cody got a Thunder beanie and Noah got some Star Wars Legos.
An International Harvester T-shirt so Cody can represent Beatrice, his 1971 Scout.
Superman Imaginext toy to fight all the villains
Noah picked out this Iron Man picture for Cody up in the Man Cave. What a special and thoughtful gift for Daddy! Cody hung it up that morning!
I got Cody a Columbia jacket. Red is a great color on my man.
Cody's big surprise gift was the gage plate for his Scout. I spied in his emails to see what all he'd been researching to find for replacement parts for Beatrice. I shouldn't say "spied" because we share all passwords and log-ins to our social media accounts. We are transparent, but he didn't know I was specifically reading his emails for clues on what I could get him for Christmas. I forwarded the email from the Scout parts place he had sent to my own email then contacted the guy about the plate. I asked the guy to throw Cody off the trail if he inquired back about it. So yay! Cody got a piece of metal for Christmas! He's already taken it to the paint shop to get it powder coated in blue. I did good.
Cody surprised me with a Northface jacket that I've been wanting for forever! He said he's had it bought since October! That's unheard of for Cody. Usually he's shopping at the last minute, but not this year!! And I LOVE my jacket and his proactive shopping!
After we finished our family Christmas that morning, we loaded the truck up with presents and headed east for Seminole. We spend Christmas Day with Cody's family. Noah got silly mustaches from Nana as one of his Christmas presents. We had fun wearing them around all day!
Sundy, Cody's sister, and him being silly
Another tradition we do, thanks to Aunt Sundy, is we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Masha and Vica made mini cupcakes. We all get one, light the candle and sing. It's a great tradition and a perfect way for us to remember what this season is all about.
So after a wonderful, fun-filled and blessed holiday, Noah was all tuckered out. Well done, Christmas. Well done.
We ended the holiday season with a trip to Tulsa with our sweet friends, Chris and Tracy, to see the Zac Brown Band in concert. We had a great little getaway together!
Wishing you a wonderful and happy new year filled with blessings! More to come from us in 2014!
