Christmas First'

This year Christmas was a filled with first' for our family. I was so blessed that it all turned out so beautiful. I am going to take you all through a journey of all of the first' we experienced. I hope you enjoy and are blessed.

We took the kids to their first parade. It was cold and the kids were so hyper that I could not take many pictures. But it was so wonderful to be able to experience the joy that was on their faces as each float passed. At one point I decided that Hailey should go ahead and join the parade because, as every float passed she would jump up and down, waving, and yelling, "Merry Christmas!"



I remembered going to a walk through Bethlehem as a child and thought it would be a fun and teaching experience for the kids. This is only their second Christmas hearing about the birth of Christ and they really seemed to get it this year. I think visually seeing what it might have been like and us telling the story as we walked along was great. This will become a regular tradition for our family.



Hailey and I were able to attend the adoption of one of her best friends. This little girl has been waiting for her Forever Family for over two years. It was so incredible how Hailey grasped the concept of this being one of the best Christmas gifts this child received this year. "She kept telling the little girl, Now you have a mom and dad like me. I got mine in January."

We received our Forever Family Christmas Ornament. This reminded us that this was our first Christmas as an official family. This ornament will be on our tree for all Christmas' to come.

This was our dear Sammy's first Christmas.




We do not do Santa in our home. But I wanted to give the kids something they would remember forever. When I was a child I remembered how excited we were when my parents wrapped the gift and threw them out of the bedroom one at a time. My brother and I would run down the hall and retrieve the gift. I chose to do this with my kids also. It was so exciting hearing their squeals as they ran down the hall. We also blessed that my parents were able to come up and enjoy this with us.

On Christmas morning I woke early. i had planned on making muffins and having everything ready when the kids arose. But plans changed a bit when I walked into the living room to find my three year old playing with play dough and a pile of unwrapped gifts all over the floor. He had not unwrapped his gift but his sisters. So I gathered up the gifts and spent the morning re-wrapping all of her Presents. Around lunch time we were finally ready to open gifts. This was our first Family Christmas.