that was christmas...2007

We had snow again on the weekend, it it was so pretty...

...but by Christmas Eve it had mostly disappeared. It didn't look like we would be having a white Christmas this year!

On Christmas Eve, we all went to the early church service...a family service, with the kids taking part in the program. Emme and Spencer were in the 'worship choir'...and even Ryder came up with the wee ones to sing 'Away in the Manger'. I love having the kids involved on Christmas Eve.

After church, we had the family over for appetizers and goodies. We missed having Kris, Lisa and Ranen join us, as they are spending Christmas with Lisa's grandparents in Saskatchewan this year.

The kids were so excited...one more sleep, and Christmas Day would be here!

This was the view off the front porch on Christmas morning. The kids came for brunch! Our menu is the same every year...Christmas morning wife saver casserole, croissants/rolls and fresh fruit salad.

And Grandpa Santa arrived right on schedule! Ryder just wasn't quite sure about that...and Santa had to remove his beard and moustache. With a little bribery, we even managed to get him to sit on Santa's lap...a Ford tractor did the trick!

After brunch, we all gathered in the living room to hear the Christmas story. Heidi read it to us this year, with a little help from the girls. Along with a few props from the nativity scene, we were transported back to that first Christmas in Bethlehem. This was a birthday party for Jesus!

But how fun that we get to open gifts today too! We open gifts in a very orderly fashion...the long-standing tradition is that we start with the youngest, and only one person at a time unwraps.

Ryder was really thrilled with his new firetruck...and we noticed that he had Baby Jesus riding in the front seat! How cute is that?

Now here was a gift he should have been really excited about...but he couldn't get past the fire truck! Tim and Heidi gave Ryder this beautiful hand carved rockin' Harley...Spencer demo'd it for us.

 

We gave the girls a dollhouse, which I'm sure they will have lots of fun with.

Here's my big girls modeling their Christmas scarves...and yes, I finished the one I started on the Coquihala Highway last week!

And we had a good laugh when Broni opened her gift from Heidi...fun green boots with hot pink lining. But why are they size 9? What...Heidi thought they were size 6! No amount of extra socks would look after all that spare room...so Heidi decided they must have been meant for herself!

Nope...they are too big on Heidi as well. It seems I am the proud owner of new green boots!

Once the last gift was unwrapped, we noticed Ryder had finally discovered his Harley! Sometimes it takes us awhile to 'really unwrap' the best gifts!

We had a wonderful time with the family...and we feel so blessed! We know how to give each other good gifts. How much more will our Father in heaven give us good gifts? There's so much more that happened this Christmas, that I can't share with you today. But maybe one day I will tell you 'the rest of the story'! This I know, that the Prince of Peace gave us His peace this Christmas season.

In the afternoon, the kids all left and we delivered a basket to a special person who so deserved a big thank-you yesterday. We dropped in at the emergency department of our local hospital to thank our family doctor who was voluntarily taking a shift on Christmas Day! The ER was humming...but we distracted Gord from his duties for a few moments. He was smiling as usual, and sent his greetings to the family...and brother Bill who was once his high school buddy.

As we left the hospital, we passed by this church...parishioners were leaving the Christmas mass.

It looked like the seagulls had also come 'en masse', and were sitting in a row along the peak.

We had a quiet evening...watched a great Christmas movie called "The Christmas Shoes" and also a Paul Brandt Christmas special which was filmed in Banff. And so ended Christmas Day 2007!

But not before the snow began to fall...

and we got our white Christmas after all!