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Merry Christmas to all!

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I set very low expectations for Christmas this year. We've been warned it would be rough. J warned us it would be rough. For all of December he has blamed any grumpiness on it being too close to Christmas.

He doesn't give any detail why Christmas is so rough. I assume it's the same reason why Easter is rough. It's remembering times with younger siblings and missing seeing them grow up. He couldn't recall any positive Christmas memories or even any celebration at all in 2016.

I put a lot of thought into what to get him. The best gift was a skateboard. A real one. When he saw it his reaction was "Is it from Walmart?" I was so excited to tell him "Nope!" It came from a real skate shop. Just like all his friends. Suddenly Christmas wasn't so bad.

J put up with being in matching Christmas jammies at the Vance's house all morning and even stood in for pictures. He enjoyed wrestling with David and he got more clothes which he put on to wear for the rest of the day. By the end of the day he admitted (unprompted) "Today was alright." which is as close to a "Merry Christmas and thanks!" as we're going to get.

J wasn't the only one who had an alright day, though. The girls got new (to them) bikes and have been doing great learning to ride. The first time we got Kaybree a bike she was terrible at riding but suddenly she is a pro. Might even need to take the training wheels off soon. Eisley is way more excited to ride than Kaybree ever was. She's always asking to go outside.

Brendon found a last minute deal on a new nintendo--the one that looks like a mini version of the old super nintendo and has all the games on it. He and J have been playing non-stop all weekend. It's refreshing to see them having fun together. Brendon also got me diamond earrings that I love and a iLife vacuum which is awesome!

It's been so nice having Brendon home. He gets to work only one job (Jamba) during the winter break so he comes home and doesn't have to plan a lesson and can finally spend time with the kids. They love it! He'll go back to student teaching in January for another semester.




Over all we had an excellent Christmas. Maybe one of the best. We made it out with no tears and lots of laughter, great gifts and great food. It makes me excited for all the Christmases yet to come with this sweet family of mine!

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