One of the best Christmases ever!

My favorite Christmas ever was probably my Dad's last Christmas in 1998 right before he died of pancreatic cancer. Christmas this year was my second favorite. Most of my family lives in other places, so we're never all together for the holidays. That being said, we'll take any company we can get!

This year lots of my family was around for Christmas. My sister Kristin and her family (who have been living with us for the past several months) were around to celebrate Christmas with us, as well as my sister Sharon and her family (who live in Mississippi). We had a house full with seven adults and nine children, and things got even more crazy when my sister Laura, her husband Brett and their baby came over on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Family is definitely what makes holidays fun and enjoyable, so I was happy that so many of us could celebrate Christmas together.

Christmas Eve: We don't have a fireplace in my house, so we've never had a great spot to hang our stockings. This year was no different and since there were so many stockings that needed to be hung, we decided to tie a rope on the curtain rods in my kitchen and family room so that we could hang our stockings on it. Here is a picture of that:

Now that all of the kids in my family are grown and living on their own, my mom just puts up a small, 4-foot fiber optic tree each year. However, since my sister Kristin's family was living here, we decided to buy a real tree to make the Christmas season more exciting for her kids. My mom had gotten rid of most of the ornaments that we used to use to decorate every year, so we had to improvise by making a lot of homemade ornaments. The tree turned out nicely even though it was an "impromptu" Christmas tree. Here is a picture of our Christmas tree after Santa stopped by:

Christmas Day: Christmas morning began early, but it wasn't your typical Christmas morning where the kids rush down the stairs and start opening presents. I really wanted to be a part of everything, but since it was Saturday, that meant the first order of business was to get me dressed, wash and fix my hair (which is a long process) and get me up into my wheelchair. My mom started getting me ready at 6 AM and I was finally up in my wheelchair and ready to go by 8:30. The kids patiently waited for me to be ready before they came downstairs. (It was a tall order to keep seven very young and excited children waiting!)

We started by having a quick breakfast of scones; chocolate peppermint and white chocolate cranberry. Here is a picture of the scones:

We spent the next several hours opening presents and exploring our loot. It was so fun to watch the kids open their presents and witness their excitement over the things they got. The kids excitement was so enchanting! Here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas morning:

We spent Christmas afternoon hanging out, trying out the kids' new toys and playing games. Here are more of my favorite pictures:

It's hard to believe that Christmas is over! It seems as if the Christmas season gets shorter and shorter each year. Christmas was only four days ago, but it seems like a lot longer, in my opinion. How is it that time can pass so quickly?! I definitely made a lot of great memories to put in my "mental vault"and I'm grateful for such a kind, loving family.