A Merry Christmas...

We had a beautiful Christmas.  

Micah was home... and all throughout the day I just found myself smiling... 

there was happiness and contentment deep inside my heart. 

 I guess the best way to describe it was that I was 

THANKFUL!  

Thankful that we are so blessed, loved, and taken care of!

 Christmas Even we went to the Candle light service... the kids were so cute... I caught a couple pictures before my camera battery died!  It ended up being our only Christmas Service because Eden woke up Christmas morning covered in puke.  She seemed okay through out the day, but I didn't want to pass on the germs... and it was nice to just stay home for Christmas morning!

We had more gifts this year than ever before... it was almost overwhelming!

 We try to keep the main focus of Christmas a celebration of Jesus' birth... we don't want it to be all about presents and what we GET... but that what we ultimately GOT... JESUS CHRIST... and He is all we need!  It is hard to communicate that to kids, but truly as Ethan and Eden's parents that is what we want them to learn and know with all their hearts!  It is so easy to be selfish and self-focused!

 Our Christmas morning started out with a breakfast pie... yum!  I have to share the recipe... it was easy and delicious! You start with a roll of refrigerated crescent rolls and lay them in the pan as the bottom crust... then you pour the following ingredience on the crust:

8 oz cooked ham or sausage

1 cup frozen hash brown potatoes (which I TOTALLY forgot to put in!)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained (I used a couple handfuls of fresh mushrooms - I sauteed them with the onion and bell pepper)

5 eggs mixed with, 1/4 cup milk, salt, and pepper (sprinkle each) and pour over the rest of the ingredients... sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.... sooo good!

 We made our traditional monkey bread birthday cake for Jesus... and sang to Him! Ethan and Eden were more than happy to blow out the candles...

 Then we opened presents... the kids were over the top excited!

My Mom made these PJs for Eden... aren't they BEAUTIFUL?!

 Eden's expressions just made me smile... she is so animated and dramatic!

 We want to thank all our wonderful friends and relatives that flooded our home with packages and gifts containing delightful things... 

THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

 My favorite part of Christmas was looking across the room and seeing my Love... I am so glad he is home - safe and sound!  When Eden first saw him she cried out, "Oh Daddy!  You are home!!! I missed you so much!"  She ran to him and threw her arms around him... so precious!

A princess for my Princess!

 One of my favorite Ethan quote was when he was opening up this box from Uncle Adam and Aunt Kim-e... it was wrapped in a pull-up box and when he saw it was a pull-up box he exclaimed, "Oh no! Not pull-ups!"  I think he was relieved to find it was actually his very own treasure chest box!

I really want to thank my parents for coming and staying with us while Micah was gone.  The kids were sad to see them head home this morning (and so was I).... they made our Christmas special with lots of fun gifts! My Dad (once again) did several home improvement projects (pictures to come) and my Mom sewed them PJs and lots of little doll clothes for Eden's new babies... They washed hundreds of dishes, read stories, folded laundry, played games, colored, rolled out play dough and were patient during all the kids melt-downs, moments of pure selfishness, temper tantrums, and all their sibling arguing!  We are so glad they came... they made our Christmas very, very special!  Wish they lived closer!  Hope you all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS... we sure did!