Our Christmas Celebration

We had so much fun celebrating Christmas with our family. We are so thankful to have each other and to be able to celebrate Jesus' birthday. I (Averie, of course) was singing "Happy Birthday, Jesus" all the time...and I always looked forward to adding one more nativity item to my Advent Nativity calendar each day. There are lots of pictures (Mommy took over 200, so we did good to narrow it down this :) ), but they are from 4 different celebrations...Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, Christmas with the Karaffa's, and Christmas with the Van Wingerden's. Enjoy!!

CHRISTMAS EVE:

We attend our church's wonderful Christmas Eve service...filled with singing lots of Christmas carols. Then, we each get to open one gift (this tradition started with Daddy's side of the family...), which is always jammies (for Daddy & Mommy, it's a warm-up suit, etc.). We put on our new jammies and get ready for bed. This year, I got to do 2 new things...leave out my cookies and milk for Santa and stay up late to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Mommy's favorite Christmas movie). Daddy & Mommy thought for sure I'd fall asleep during it, but I didn't. I watched the whole thing. Afterwards, though, I feel asleep very quickly so that Santa could come...It was such a fun night!

Check out my new Jammies...

And, here is Brady opening his...

We put on our jammies and sat in front of the tree for a few pictures. Of course, Brady was more interested in everything hanging around him...especially the lights...and the candy canes...he is quick to grab!

Us in our jammies...

And, one more before Brady goes to bed...

CHRISTMAS MORNING:

I ran downstairs and quickly looked to see if my cookies were eaten. Of course, Santa drank all the milk, but he did leave some cookies half-eaten. So, without hesitation, I finished those off for him. That made Daddy & Mommy laugh. And, I noticed all this before I even noticed what he left for me...

...a big girl bicycle...Thanks, Santa!

I was pretty excited...check out that smile!!

Then, after we ate a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon (made by Daddy!), we read the Christmas story in the Bible, prayed as a family, and then opened our gifts. Here, Daddy taught me the art of "peeking" at a gift after only unwrapping the end of it. I thought that this was so fun, so I did this for most of my gifts...

Daddy & Me on Christmas morning...

I had fun opening up some really great gifts...

And, Brady had fun eating the paper...and smiling!

Brady also liked opening gifts...and playing with tissue paper. I don't think he cared what was in the box, but now he's having fun playing with his new toys!

Here, Brady was saying "thanks, Big Sister" for my fun toy that we can play with together...

Mommy & Brady...Brady's 1st Christmas!

Mommy & Me...getting ready to go through our stockings...

Going through my stocking was so fun. I got some great goodies...

Here, Brady is going through his stocking too. However, he was napping by the time we got to our stockings on Christmas morning, so once he got dressed and we had the chance, we let him go through his...I loved watching him open them...even if it was later! :)

A few pictures of Brady...

Merry 1st Christmas, Brady Boy!
CHRISTMAS WITH THE KARAFFA'S:
Around lunchtime on Christmas Day, Poppy, Nana, Uncle Blair, Aunt Brittany, and McKinly came over to celebrate Christmas with us. We had a lot of fun. The guys got some really cool helicopters that they were flying around, and we just enjoyed spending time together.
Here is Brady playing with our cousin McKinly...

Brady opening up a few gifts (now that he has had his morning nap, he had more energy to open gifts! :))
And, Poppy & Nana with their grandchildren...Averie, Brady, & McKinly!
That night, we eat dinner at Opa & Oma's house, but we celebrated Christmas a few days later...What a fun day!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE VAN WINGERDEN'S:

A few days later, we went to Opa & Oma's house to celebrate Christmas. I got a new stroller for my baby dolls from Opa & Oma, and I loved it! It's so much fun!

...and a Leap Frog Leap Pad...how fun!

Brady got some fun toys also...a choo choo train, Leap Frog toy, etc.

Here, Daddy is helping Brady open his gift from Uncle Abe & Aunt Cindi (they drew his name this year in the gift exchange. He got a cool parking garage for his cars!) Oh, and look at Brady looking at Daddy...isn't that too cute?

Uncle Michael & Aunt Courtney had my name this year, and they gave me a Bitty Baby American Girl Doll baby doll (who we named Karson) with a diaper bag full of goodies. I carry Karson with me all the time...taking her for walks in my new stroller.

Brady & Oma

Me & Oma
Me & Opa
Brady & Opa

We sure had a wonderful Christmas, and we hope you did as well. Thanks again for all your love and support throughout the year. May God bless you this New Year!

The Karaffa Family ~ Christmas ~ 2008