Christmas Day

What an amazing Christmas we had this year!

The day began with the kiddos waking us at the crack of dawn to find out what Santa brought us. The kids (and parents) were all pleasantly surprised.


Steven is famous for his creative present tag addresses....


And this was Jake's first Christmas, though I couldn't coax a smile from him for a picture---his expression was mostly one of mild surprise and confusion.


Next, we drove down to Galveston to have a mini Howsley reunion. My older brother Jeff and his sweet family live in North Richland Hills (just outside of Fort Worth). This year, they drove ALL the way to Galveston on Christmas Eve just so we could all be together on Christmas Day. Add that to the fact that Adam and Jackson were visiting from Utah, and you have one schmantastic Howsley Christmas!

One of the first sights on arrival was this:

All 5 of the older grandson congregated together---having a very intense "Beyblade" related conversation.

Then followed the gift-giving mania! Paper flying, ribbons streaming, dogs and cats, living together...







Afterwards, I caught some Christmas silliness on camera.







What amazes me still is how afterwards all 8 adults were all scurrying about the kitchen making last little meal preparations, and we miraculously accomplished it all without any fist fights. And man-oh-man-oh-man---dinner was outrageously delicious. Prime rib, turkey breast, spinach and feta salad, corn, green beans, cheesey potato slices, hot rolls--just outrageous.




Such a wonderful day. And the next day we all attended church with Dad (he's usually alone at church, and wanted to show us off to his ward family). Here he is with all six grandsons.

And here we are, all together.


It makes my heart warm thinking about it. I'm so lucky to have had them all around me--even if it was just for 2 days.

On Christmas night, Steven and I sat down with our boys to eat some Christmas candy and watch "The Nativity," a video produced by the church. It's one of the simplest, most beautiful portrayals of Christ's birth that I've ever seen---and it's short so it keeps the kids' attention. It's always my favorite way to end Christmas.