Chelsea reading to Violet
Look at what I can do!
Her favorite gift
Christmas started the day after Violet's birthday this year. Jeff's brother John came to town for her party and then stayed the weekend so we could celebrate Christmas together. They are both ER docs and work many weekends so getting together can be tough. His other brother Jason couldn't make it because they just had a new baby boy! Triston Jay Sparks has joined our family. We had a blast staying at Grandma Penny's house and ate until our stomachs' were about to pop, and then ate some more! Violet loved opening the presents and playing with her cousin Chelsea and new cousin Layla.
The next weekend we spent Christmas with my mom. Oh my goodness was it jam packed with activities and traditions. Friday night the kids rehearsed a skit of the birth of Jesus. The kids dressed up as angels nad shepherds. Violet earned the role of Baby Jesus. What a fun way to share the real meaning of Christmas. We started Saturday morning by doing random acts of kindness around Kirksville with the entire family. We loaded up the 20 passenger van and did random things like paying for part of people's groceries and handing out money stuffed in Christmas cards. The acts felt good, but what was amazing was getting the kids involved. They were so excited to help people and were brainstorming different ways of helping people next year. What a great way to teach the kids about giving when so much of Christmas is about receiving. Great idea Tiff! I think we have a new tradition. Later that afternoon we opened presents and then Santa came to visit that night! The kids were psyched and had all sorts of questions for Santa about rudolph and the elves. Violet thought his red suit and beard were great! She even gave the beard a little tug. She did not think sitting on his lap was a good idea though. After Santa, we loaded the van again and looked at Christmas lights and went caroling. We surprised my Great Aunt Coco with a few carols. She is 87 years old and said that we were her first carolers. Tyson came prepared this year with song books for everyone and his guitar. It was so much fun.
The next weekend we celebrated Christmas as a family at our house. Jeff and I put together all of Violet's toys and then wrapped them so she could play as soon as she opened them. We woke up at about 7:00 on Christmas morning and looked out the window and saw Mom and Rick sitting in their car in the street. They were waiting for us to turn a light on so they could come in and watch Violet open her presents. (My grandparents used to always be at our house on Christmas morning, no matter how early we got up). They had already been to Tiff's house and wathched them open presents. Those kids are early risers! Violet got the shakes when she saw all the presents under the tree and crawled right to them. We had to help her open them and then she wanted to play with each toy she opened! She is so much fun! I think her favorite gift was the 1$ ball we got her. She also loved her stuffed panda bear. She has a real love for pandas! Jeff's mom, dad, and grandma made it to our house by 7:30 and we all ate breakfast together before church. It was an amazing morning; and an amazing couple of weeks.
Christmas has always been special, but words cannot describe the feeling of spending Christmas with Violet and my little Family. These are the special times, ones we will always remember. Merry Christmas!
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