Christmas Day

I can't even begin to explain how thankful I was to be spending Christmas with my family and that John was also able to be there with us. When we moved we began preparing ourselves for not being able to come home since we would have only been there such a short time and we were so happy that we could come back. It was such a nice time with family and it felt so good to have the normalcy of family traditions and the familiarity of our Christmas celebrations when these past six months have been so chaotic. And since it was Graham's first Christmas I was happy that he could celebrate with everyone!

Peyton was so excited the night before and had a hard time going to sleep and then the next morning we had to wake her up! She was shocked that the stockings were filled and that there was soot on the fireplace!

Peyton was a little angry that Santa ate ALL of her cookies! She was so excited to leave them the night before and I guess she either didn't believe us or thought he would just eat one or two.

I have hardly any pictures of opening presents :( There were six adults, two kids and a dog all trying to open their presents so it was a little chaotic. Graham loved the wrapping paper and the craziness and we spent most of the morning trying to keep him from eating paper!

Peyton had been asking for a piggy bank for ages. She asked shortly after we moved and well...that is the last thing I would be able to find here in Saudi. So, she got one from Santa and was so excited! She also got numerous games and books and some new light up shoes and just loved the excitement of Christmas morning.

John and I didn't get gifts for each since we had spent so much on travel, buying things to bring back to Saudi etc....well....John was supposed to not get me a gift but instead surprised me with a Couch purse. He gave it to me shortly after he got there so I could use it out on our date nights and not carry a diaper bag! I had seen it in Saudi awhile ago and said it was nice but didn't think he would ever buy it. It is a special edition purse to commemorate the 70th Anniversary. Now if I could just reduce how much stuff I have to carry everyday...I could use it more!

I also got some photography books and a Kelly Moore camera bag and then John got a iPod touch and Apple TV. A good Christmas indeed!

My mom decided to make us wear matching PJ's again and so we took a family picture.....

 

Then later that day my mom hosted Christmas dinner and my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins all came down from Canada and we had 20 people around the table! I have never (to my knowledge) spent Christmas Day with my dad's side of the family and it was so nice to be able to spend the holidays with them. The food was delicious and it was such a wonderful night! Truly my favorite gift of the day....lots of family!