Christmas Eve

About 4:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning, Bethany was the 5th victim of the stomach bug that worked its way through most of our family. We weren’t able to go to Coupeville for the extended family gathering because she was sick, which was a bummer, but by mid-morning she was feeling sort of OK, so we let the girls open their stockings in order to cheer them up a bit. We were bummed to miss our only opportunity to see cousins of any sort this year!

The highlight of the little girls’ stockings was the spinning toothbrushes with stickers for decorating! Bethany’s favorite stocking gift was the silver treble clef necklace and Sarah was excited about her Jamie Grace CD! We ended up with a pretty relaxing & family-centered Christmas Eve day,watching movies & playing games & reading books – whatever Bethany was feeling up for.

Later that evening, we attended the Christmas Eve service at church (Sarah played and I read a prayer & even Bethany felt well enough to go sit in the balcony) and then we went to Mom & Dad’s for dinner and our traditional gift-opening fun!

LOVED Sarah’s reaction when she realized her gift from Grandpa F. was a Kindle! A great series of pictures follows…

They LOVE their Kindles!

The roller blades the little girls got from Grandpa F. were also a big hit! They’ve been out roller blading several times during break and are getting pretty good at it…well, except for stopping. They usually just run off the edge of the patio onto the grass or bonk into the gate.

Bethany with her American Girl 1930’s circle camera from the MI cousins!

Dad opening his WA-state-shaped-cutting board from us and the CA family!

Mom reading her new cookbook with special recipes from Aunt S!

Mom seemed to like the picture window I put together for her with one of Dad’s old windows.

I took a quick shot with my iPhone before I wrapped it. I was happy with the simplicity and the way the pictures take center stage. Updates will come soon after the new baby arrives in MI, I hope!

We loved the simplicity of Christmas Eve Day this year, but not so much the sickness and the fact that there were not cousins and sleepovers and such. Hopefully next year!