Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Christmas: The annual festival of the Christian church commemorating the birth of Jesus.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I will never tire of my siblings coming into my room in the morning to wake me up.
Then we open the stockings together which is always a good time.
(No underwear for me this year. But there was deodorant.)
Then we each take turns opening presents. With seven kids, this has the possibility of becoming a chaotic mess.
It actually wasn't too bad.
And, of course, it was really fun.

Brayden was probably the cutest present opener this year.  He only opened with one hand, so it took him a long time to finishing opening a present. But it was worth the wait because he is so dang cute.

After our present opening extravaganza, we went to the Michaelises house for the annual Christmas Breakfast.

Christmas would not be the same without the french toast, cinnamon syrup, bacon, sausage, eggs, and oranges that is shared with our neighbors of twelve years.

And this year definitely did not disappoint.

Then we met up with my mom's family and went caroling at an Old Folks Home.

When we asked one man what his favorite song was, he decided to sing it for us.

He sang:

"Adolph Hitler was a man.

He killed all the Jews..."

Funniest moment of my day.

Shocked, we immediately started singing, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful."

I REALLY enjoyed singing to those beautiful people and doing it with my family made it complete.

Then my dad's side of the family came over and we spent the rest of the evening with them.

We ate dinner.

Then opened presents.

Just my mom modeling my new hair-dryer-towel-thing.

Then took awkward family pictures.  (Truth is, she isn't technically related to me.  This is Alaina Lynette Larimer, my best friend since we were babes at the tender age of 2.  We have grown up together so we usually just say we're cousins. And I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with her.)

No shame.

And of course we sang Christmas songs.

Such fun.

//REALLY QUICK RECAP OF CHRISTMAS EVE.//

Night in Bethlehem was amazing.

The food was DELICIOUS.

We gave Grandma a shirt covered with the hand prints of her grandchildren.

I think she liked it..

SUCCESS.

BCF (Best Cousins Forever.)

Grandma with all her grandchildren. AWWWWW.

//TOLDYA IT WOULD BE REALLY QUICK.//

But really, it has been such a great Christmas.  I received so many amazing presents.  (My mom bought five different pairs of boots just to make sure I got my favorite pair.  Like really, does a mom get cooler than that?) I spent time with my family, which I was so grateful for.  I served, I felt the spirit, and I remembered the birth of  My Saviour, My Redeemer, My Brother, My Friend.

Merry Christmas.

♥ Bekah