Christmas 2015

I think this Christmas is going to go down as one of my favorite. For some reason I did not seem as stressed or overwhelmed this year. I really did my best to complete the Advent devotional book that Austin Stone gave out which was really good. And Matt and I did our best to do the Jesse Tree devotional with the kids every night which was hit or miss with them, but really meaningful for me. It is awesome to see how every story (even the Old Testament) points us back to Jesus and His coming.

I also got all my shopping done really early - in fact, most on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) with Matt's help. We bought a ton online which is amazing and helps out so much. Plus we got each child an iPad as their main gift through a great Black Friday deal so that made buying anything else much simpler. We just kept the remaining gifts really small. And I felt like I did pretty well sticking to a budget.

Also, John (and Matthew) still believe in Elf on the Shelf and Santa Claus. Which is SO FUN. Having Elf on the Shelf move every night was a favorite activity during the holidays and every kid got into it. It was the first thing John would do every morning and he would usually run into our bedroom to report where "Elfie" had moved.

Another element that made it special is that we all gathered at Mom's house and Emily and Peyton were in town this year which my kids love because it means they have their cousins there, too. I also had everyone over for brunch on Christmas day which helped relieve some of Mimi's stress which is ALWAYS a good thing.

Lots of people kept telling me I was so lucky to have kids still excited about Christmas because once they get older it's just not as fun. I can see why that would be true. . . but I always hope that we can have some meaningful memories along the way and always remember the amazing gift of the baby Jesus. It changes everything!

Christmas morning at our house! We made the kids wait until 6:15 am to wake us up and had them wait in the hallway 

Yep, we got EVERY KID a mini iPad. We will see how it goes. . . 

Will and John also got heavy duty Nerf guns and then had a war with Peyton in the front yard

Cutie Cousins

Matthew is really into Paw Patrol right now - this is a t-shirt he got for Christmas

Will and Paige

Crazy Eyes John in front of Mimi's Christmas tree

Great pic of me and Peyton!

Shifting to Christmas EVE and the Kendall's house for Gumbo and a visit from Santa

Little man all dressed for church

How cute are these two when they saw Santa coming in the door?

The Moms and Santa - Kathy Rauert, Ginger Kendall and Mimi Taylor

All the girls - sort of an awkward photo. . .

Back to Christmas morning at our house

Cutie Cousins

Matt with his favorite gift - TUMI briefcase

John still needs a short nap every day - Christmas Day was no exception!