Christmas Day

Christmas morning came nice and early at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I guess that's what happens when your an hour earlier time zone! Taylor was the first one up and since she and Boston were sharing a room, she immediately woke him up to go check out what Santa had brought.

Taylor was so excited that she had gotten a new bike. She ran her last one into the ground and it was barely hanging on, so Santa made a smart move on that one!

She was also so shocked and excited about her very own American Doll, Kit. She was so excited that she got one that looked just like her with blue eyes and short blonde hair.

Boston loves all things cars and was so excited to get more to add to his stash.  I failed to take many pics after the first initial minutes, but everyone was happy:)  He was especially excited about his woody doll from Toy Story and the movie Cars 2.  He even had me write his name on the bottom of Woody's shoe just like Andy did in the movies!

Maddox wasn't really sure what was going on, but the minute he saw this trike, he was set for the rest of the day!

After the yummy breakfast, we got ready and headed off the church. I spent most of the time chasing Maddox around, but enjoyed being able to learn more about Christ and celebrate by spending time at church.  We ran out of time before church to take a picture, so this was our best attempt after when kids were excited to change clothes and open more presents. And, Maddox had just slammed his fingers in the van door so he was not too happy!

I love seeing Christmas through my kids eyes.  I'm definitely still a kid at heart and love everything about Christmas, so seeing the joy on my kids faces that day really melted my heart.

Maddox just seemed to be happy to have toys all his own that no one was trying to take away from him. He was one content dude!

I couldn't post about our holiday without also mentioning the fact that we wouldn't have had much of one with the help of others. We felt so humbled to have been blessed by the generosity of others.  We knew  where it came from and when I was approached about what this family wanted to do for us, I immediately broke down in tears. I was so overwhelmed because it truly was an answer to our prayers. Money has been tight for us, especially at the end of the year.  We knew when Curtis took his new job last February that a pay cut may make things tight for awhile until he was promoted to General Manager, but we knew it would be worth it in the end. As Christmas drew closer and my stress level increased about a way to make it special for my kids when we barely had enough for the necessities, the Lord provided a way through others.  We also received some money in the mail from a secret Santa and we are still unsure of who that was, but we feel blessed.  It was an emotional Holiday for me and journaling it now only brings back those raw feelings of pure gratitude.  My kids don't know about who provided the gifts, to them, it was from Santa and us. But someday, when they are much older, I will use this as teaching moment about the importance of giving and selflessness. I remember when I was younger and my dad was without a job and we received a basket full of toys and food one Christmas and I couldn't even believe someone would do that for us! I learned when I was older that more was done for our family that Christmas that I wasn't aware of and now my kids will have a similar story to tell.   I'm grateful for the chance to focus my thoughts on a different side of the Holidays, one where we were blessed to be on the receiving end of something wonderful.  And now, with a new year upon us, I'll work to serve and uplift others in anyway that I can in order to Pay it Forward:)