A Perfect Christmas

Yesterday was truly a perfect Christmas. The kids were both at such a fun age and did extremely well handling all the excitement. You just never know what to expect with a 3yr old and a 1yr old, but we had such an enjoyable morning exchanging gifts. We began by opening the greatest gift that is for everyone...baby Jesus, and Riley got to place him in the nativity set. Then we all took our time opening gifts and time to enjoy each gift as it was opened. This was a fun year for us as parents!

The Anticipation...

Time to open...
(starting with baby Jesus)

Brad opening his yearly books from his brother

The kids each got a really nice Little People set from our next door neighbors...they are always so good to our family.

Naomi having fun with her new tea set. It was fun to see her playing with some girl toys!

Mid-morning we were joined by my parents and brothers and started round two, and again the kids did a great job being patient and expressing thankfulness to everyone. It's so rewarding as a parent to see your children behave rightly, especially in situations that could easily go the other way and we really have no control over. That was one of the best parts of Christmas for me was seeing that.

The brunch

My handsome little man in his new sweater from Gramps and Gram Van :)
My dad built Naomi a dollhouse bookcase for her room. Isn't it beautiful?!

Naomi also (finally) got sheets and a quilt for her big girl bed! Her room is looking a lot more finished!

My brothers got Riley a firetruck tent for his bed! The kids had a blast with it!


Mimi and Poppy gave Riley this really cool firetruck puzzle that you can flip over and color with wipe of crayons!

The adults had fun playing games...and playing with the kids and their new toys :)

The Meal

You can only imagine one of Riley's most exciting gifts (from Uncle Dan and Aunt Michele's family)...


Sweet, happy girl!


Time for bed! What a wonderful Christmas day!

We are so thankful for our family and all the happy memories we created today, and especially for our two beautiful children without whom we could not imagine life. Our family is truly the best gift to us.

We hope everyone had a Christmas full of as much joy and blessing as ours!