The Slade's Spot: Christmas

This year we decided to have Christmas at home. This was a first for us in our 6 yrs of marriage. We were excited to have Heather and Steve's family over to celebrate with us. We were able to mix family traditions with both families and it was a lot of fun. I've never had a fancy meal for Christmas Eve so this was a first. Heather was in charge of that so it turned out great. After our meal it was time to read the Christmas story found in Luke. I don't know how people make it through the story with little kids. We tried to make it fun with a little nativity set, but it was entertaining to say the least. Once we made it through the story the kids got to open a Christmas Eve gift of PJ's. Brody was really excited about his Buzz Light Year Pj's, but mom guessed the size wrong so they were a little snug. Grandma saved the day though with Pj's she had made the kids! Thanks mom your the best!
I don't know what we were thinking putting all the kids down to bed in one room. I guess we figured they would get tired eventually. Good thing we had made a decision on when santa's elves needed to get to work so they wouldn't be up all night. Needless to say we ended up splitting up all three kids until they each fell asleep. Santas elves tried working hard, but really one of them did most of the work (love ya sweetie!!) It was a short sleepless night, but was worth it in the morning when we woke the kids up and told them it was Christmas and that Santa had come. They all came running out and each went to their toy Santa gave them except for Zach. He went running to everyone elses toy especially the train set Brody got. It was pretty cute. The day was a big success and I even got surprised by Santa. . . he's the best!!
On Christmas day we headed over to Pam's house to have our traditional big Christmas dinner. The food was fantastic which it always is when someone else makes it, and it was fun to see what fun things Santa had brought them as well. My mom had come to town a few days before Christmas so we were able to spend time with her and loved having her here for a couple of weeks. The holidays were the best and I am so grateful for the blessings we have received this year.