Christmas Morning

Waiting to come up the stairs....always goes youngest to oldest, Shanelle was an exception in this case.

Bryce running to see!

Ran to here, stopped and looked for a long moment and then got all excited all over again. 

If I didn't get anything for Christmas I would still be completely happy because she is like Christmas each and every day. What a cutie and what love she brings into our lives. 

Bryce excited about his remote control truck that Santa brought

Jaycie with her new pink scooter with wheels that light up!

She loves it!

Chatting with grandpa. Shanelle just loves grandpa! It seems all kids do. He has a special spirit about him.

Mark with his new guitar

The grandparents, I'll say more about that down below

Shanelle with her new rattle - we went all out with her presents this year....actually just the opposite, that's all we gave her for Christmas. Maybe I shouldn't be admitting that.

But she doesn't mind, she's as happy as can be!

Telling grandpa stories

Jaycie loves her sister. holds her all the time at home and sings to her and just loves her so much.  Sorry Shanelle not the most flattering picture of you. 

My favourite part of Christmas day is the early morning. When the excitement is fresh on the kids faces as they see what Santa brought and as they peer into their stockings. 

This year was one of the best Christmas mornings yet. And I have a feeling they are only going to get better. The reason I can say that this was the best one yet was because I had one of those moments where time just stood still and for a minute I was able to take it all in. Really take it in. 

While time froze I could hear Grandma Dorothy and Grandma Dorene and Grandpa Murray talking about  Christmas's past and the china faced dolls that she received and the joy of receiving what she so dearly wished for. In the other corner of the room there was Bryce and Jaycie enjoying their new gifts and you could see pure delight in their faces. Beside them was Shanelle chatting with Grandpa and you could see the love between them. And then there was me sitting beside the one I love the most, Jeff, and thinking how much I love him and how grateful I am for him and how wonderful it was to sit here on the floor with him by my side. That is was because of him that I was there. There was much more to that moment, feelings and thoughts I can't describe even though it was only a minute in time. But those wonderful feelings of Joy and bliss and excitement and more were captured in my mind and will be forever as time stood still and I was able to really and truly enjoy it amidst all the busyness. 

I absolutely loved that Christmas was on Sunday this year. I loved just doing stockings and Santa present in the morning and having time to play. The kids had fun riding Jaycie's scooter around in the house especially since they knew that once it went outside it stayed outside and they wouldn't be able to ride it in the house anymore because the wheels would be dirty. 

The one thing we did miss was Madilyn and family. They did their own thing in the morning and the kids really missed having her there. They kept on asking, where's Madilyn? Oh, cousins are so fun. We're so lucky to have all our family close and so be able to spend lots of time together at Christmas.  

I loved being able to go to church on Christmas day. It really set the tone for the day. 

I love Christmas morning, its my favourite part of the day.