Finding JOY

On Christmas Eve, right after Scott got off work, we packed up the van with kids, presents, and food and headed off to Kat's house for Christmas. It was kind of a last minute decision to go to Boise for Christmas, but I am so glad we did. Kat's house always feels like a home away from home for me, and combined with the fact that Katie puts the magic in Christmas, the whole weekend was amazing for my family and I.

Christmas Eve Abby put on (with a little help from Mom) a Christmas devotional about finding JOY. She explained that as we serve, we should serve in a certain order; you first need to serve Jesus, and then you need to serve Others, and lastly you need to serve Yourself. If we live our lives putting Jesus first, and others ahead of ourselves, we will find JOY. I was amazed at what a simple concept this was, and what a simple way to teach it, yet it has such a profound meaning.

Abby had us all participate with the program, including giving prayers and musical numbers.

After the Christmas program, Scott and I gave the kids their Christmas PJ's. Scotty is a huge fan of Thomas the Train, and because of this, so in Jane. I had at first bought Jane some Tinker Bell PJ's, trying to do the cute girly thing, but as I thought about it, I knew she would get a lot more out of Thomas PJ's, and she did. All evening, and the next morning, she kept pointing both her and Scotty's bellies and saying "Mom! Choo choo!" in the most excited voice. I am totally glad I exchanged the Tinker Bell PJ's.

After a few stories with Dad, the kids went to bed surprisingly well.

That evening, after everyone was in bed, Katie and I stayed up late wrapping gifts, setting out presents and wondering why Santa gets the credit for all our hard work...

Jane's stocking:

Scotty's stocking:

Scott's and my stockings:

And then the madness.

We had Kat's family for Christmas this year, which made shipping easy:). Since it was a homemade Christmas, we had a lot of fun. We made Abby a doll house bookshelf, Mikey a license plate birdhouse, and Katherine a pillow with a silhouette of Abby on the front. We had so much fun making the gifts, I just hope they like them have as much as we did.

I made the kids a play kitchen, Jane a doll and Scott a personalized Checker game with a homemade checker board and our faces on all the checker pieces. I love making stuff, but boy did I stay busy this month and boy did my house need a major overhaul when Christmas was done!

We stayed at Kat's till Sunday morning and then headed back home to P-town for some Christmas fun with the Porters...