Counting Our Blessings: Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was a huge success's in our book! We kept the focus on Jesus Christ, the real reason for the season, and we enjoyed a relaxing day with our families. On Christmas morning Lillian woke up and waited patiently for her brother to wake up so they could open presents together. When John Whitten finally did wake up she insisted that he open all of his presents first. It was really sweet to watch her bring him his presents one by one, and then when he opened it she would say, "Oh, are you so excited John Whitten?" Lillian was so excited when she opened her new bitty baby crib, and promptly took it to her room to make a place for baby to sleep.

After opening presents we got ready for church- I LOVED that Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. There wasn't any child care or Sunday school, so the kids went with us to services and they did SO good! It was a regular hour long service and it only took a package of goldfish to get Lillian and John Whitten through it. Sweet John Whitten would dance every time we sang, and spent most of the service flirting with the people in the pew behind us. Afterwards we headed over to Alli and Korey's house for lunch. The kids had a great time playing together and we even had a birthday cake and sang for Baby Jesus.

That evening, after naps, we headed over to celebrate Christmas with the Long/Hays. We are always so grateful for everything they do for us, and the kids LOVED all of their presents. Lillian has made me wash and rewash her and her baby's matching pjs that she got. Of course Tina made a wonderful dinner and we were stuffed and ready for bed when we got home that evening.

It was a great Christmas, and Shaun and I just loved watching our children grow in their understanding of Jesus Christ and just how important His birth was to us.

Lillian and her baby on Christmas morning