A very low key Christmas

December is always a busy month with lots of celebrating. We try really hard to focus our Christmas season on Christ. We feel that with the hustle and bustle of the season, keeping Christmas day low key is a must.

We try to keep gift giving modest and we try not to rush the day or fill it with too much. The boys woke up to treasures from Santa...Marcus jr got an air soft gun and a target, Garrett got a Matchbox car holder and a city rug to play with his cars on, and Eli got a book and some knitted balls. Our stocking were filled with our favorite flavor of M&M's and a nice piece of fruit. The boys were pleased and spent some time before gifts exploring their new treasures. We slowly opened our gifts, giving each member of the family the spot light as they opened each gift. After gifts the boys cleaned up while prepared our much anticipated breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, fruit, and juice. This is a special treat. Once we got breakfast cleaned up we got ready for the big family Skype session with David. He only gets to call on Christmas and Mother's day and we are all so so grateful for modern technology. We were all able to see each other and talk to each other. We talked for about an hour. It was so great seeing my little brother. He is doing so great! It was an emotional time for all of us, but it was hard on David. It was hard for him to say goodbye. That kid loves his family so much and I feel so blessed that with the age gap between us we all feel so connected. I look forward to Mother's Day when we can do it again.
Some of the highlights as far as gifts go were the light saber and Jedi robe from Grandma and Grandpa, Daddy getting a much needed new wallet, Daddy getting a Harry Potter shirt, Bubba getting some new clothes, an awesome Disney Monopoly game, and a new giant floor puzzle. There were many more gifts, but these were some of the favs.
 
My Christmas was a good one, but my favorite gift was from my hubby. He got me a necklace with all my kiddos names on it. I am not a big jewelry person, but this will be an everyday piece. I love being mom to these boys. They bring me so much joy and I feel so blessed.
 
So a new tradition for us while we are here on Camp Pendleton will be the free lunch provided on Christmas day by the Panda express on base. Apparently this restaurant has been doing this for years to say thank you to the military and their families. We were not sure if we would go or not, but lunch time rolled around and I was not feeling up to cooking off we went and it was great. The line was long, but it moved quickly and it was just a fun thing to do for our family. We cam home a moved lazily through the rest of the day. I took and nap and the boys played with their new stuff. For dinner I opted to go simple with Pumpkin soup and hot rolls. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.
 
I am so grateful for my Savior, his birth was a miracle and his life was a gift to all mankind. As the world moved further away from the true meaning of Christmas, it makes me want to hold on to it even more and take even more time to honor by Savior an his birth.

Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you can take a moment to remember your Savior and his life.