Christmas at the P-D's

Christmas is always a wonderful time of family get togethers! Christmas Eve we go to mom and dad's house for a dinner of Swedish meatballs! We all caravan to their church in Olympia for the Candlelight service. After that we all gather at Mark and Gwen's house to open gifts. It is so nice that they open their home for all 17 of us to be able to be comfortable while we open gifts. The boys are getting easier to shop for as they get older. The gifts they want cost a lot more so they don't get as many...right! If only that were true. Every time I went out to shop for other people I ended up with more for my 2!

This year, along with their Christmas gifts, we got a special throw blanket for dad and mom. Dad drives my boys (and the carpool) to school on the days that I work. We really appreciate this and got them a little something to say "Thanks!". Earlier in the year, for my parents 40th anniversary the whole family got professional pictures taken. They turned out beautifully and we used the one of them and the grandchildren to put on the throw blanket. It turned out really well!

Christmas morning we open our gifts from "Santa" and then have mom and dad and Daniel over for brunch. After this we go over to James parents house for the afternoon.

We were all overly blessed with gifts as usual, but cannot forget the best gift of all that was given to us all so many years ago...when God sent His son to earth as a tiny babe that would become our Savior! Happy Birthday Jesus!