Christmas 2018

Christmas morning! It was FINALLY here! After all that waiting, it was finally time to see if Santa had visited the Fork house...and he did!

The kids woke up absurdly early because that is what kids do. Brian had to hold them off until I could get a camera ready...

And then he let them loose! They found a jeep, a gigantic teddy bear, stilts, a dump truck, a Belle dress, rollerblades, and all other kinds of fun things under the Christmas tree...

 

And then they found high heels and Beenie Boos in their stockings...really what more could you want?!?

 Brian found a special ornament in his stocking...one to celebrate his new job!

I have to say the Christmas morning part of Christmas was a little disappointing to me. It all happened in about 10 minutes, and then it was done. They were excited about their presents from Santa, but not as much as I expected, and then they were ready to move on to their stockings. Then they tore through those, and then immediately wanted to open their presents under the tree. I should have guessed that a 7/5/2 year-old would not show much patience when it came to opening gifts, but it seemed like they were being greedy and not appreciating what they received. For me- so much time and work (and money!) goes into selecting and buying and wrapping their gifts. To think that they weren't extremely happy or excited about their new things was really deflating for me. Brian reassured me that they were grateful and that in his opinion they were really excited about their gifts, but the whole morning left me wondering if we should maybe re-work how we approach presents next year. I'll have to ponder that one. 

But in the meantime, as the day went on, it was clear that they were enjoying their new presents...

 

 

 

 

 Just what we needed- a full-sized State football uniform!

 

 

So clearly, the kids had a big day. I had a busy day preparing for our evening meal. Reminder to my self for next year...maybe back off on the big dinner! Brian and I love hosting meals and holidays, and we love menu planning and cooking, but it does take time to do all that which resulted in Christmas day not being very relaxing for us.

But thankfully, once our family got there, we finally able to slow down. So grateful Dad, Heather, (and Alli this year!) made the trip from Hickory to join us and Donna and Marty for dinner.

Of course, Poppy and Nana found something fun to entertain the kids with...

"Elf Yourself!" We were all cracking up...

 And they surprised Addie with a tablet for her birthday...she was thrilled!

 I always want to have punch at Christmas for some reason so this year I made it happen...of course, Collins loved it!

Dinner was delicious (smoked turkey and the fixings)…we dined in our very dark dining room (got to get that new chandelier up), exchanged wildlife stories, laughed at the kids, ate too much dessert, and remembered what Christmas is all about.

Loved celebrating Christmas with our family in our new house! But at the end of the night- man, was I ready for a nap. :)