Merry Christmas!

Our family had an absolutely amazing weekend. On Friday, Pastor Matt and his daughter Rebekah came to our house to exchange Christmas gifts. It was nice visiting with them! Beth came later that day to give Joshua a gift - an adorable swimming outfit complete with trunks, hat and t-shirt. That night, I asked my mom to come over to watch Joshua so I could surprise Shawn with a night out. We went to see the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness," which I would highly recommend. Shawn watched Joshua that entire night so I could sleep. It was soooo nice!

Saturday morning I made pancakes, scrambled eggs with two types of cheeses, and bacon along with freshly brewed coffee for breakfast. Shawn and I ate at our breakfast bar on my pretty pointsetta plates. Later that evening, we went to visit Shawn's Grandma & Grandpa Kennel at Garden Spot Village, which was Joshua's first time of seeing these great grandparents. While Grandpa Kennel isn't always mentally in the same room with us, we had a nice surprise. We gave him a picture of Joshua for his room and when he was asked if he knew who it was, his eyes beamed as he proclaimed, "JOSHUA!" It was a great memory for our family.

Sunday was Christmas Eve and Joshua went to our church for the first time. We sat on the balcony so that he would be less apt to see a lot of people who might be sick. While some folks spotted us and came up to say hello, everyone was very polite and didn't touch, kiss, or breath on our precious little one. It was great to be there! Joshua was not as excited to stay quiet as you might think, so it was a little challenging but over all a great experience. That afternoon we went to Shawn's sister Missy's house to celebrate with his parents and that side of the family. It was wonderful! Joshua got so many gifts, which truly blessed us. We also received some very exciting presents from Erica (thank you SO much!) for me, Missy for Shawn, and Shawn's parents. It was a nice afternoon. Shawn's parents and sister Erica left for Tennessee for the week, and we went home and invited my mom and Jamie over to watch "the Devil Wears Prada." Typically we would have watched Griswold's Family Christmas Vacation, but we rented this movie specifically because my mom wanted to see it, and it has to be back today. It was nice to sit by the fire and relax watching a movie. When they left, Shawn and I hung out a little bit but this is the first year we waited to open our gifts until Christmas morning. We want to start new traditions with Joshua.

That night, Joshua didn't sleep a wink. I stayed up with him until about 5:30 when I asked Shawn if he could take him so I could sleep for an hour or two so that I wouldn't be cranky at our Christmas festivities. I woke up around 8 and Shawn had a french vanilla cappacino waiting for me. We opened our stockings and gifts under the tree while Joshua "talked" to us and smiled all morning long. It was SO adorable. Shawn and I agreed that his being so incredibly happy was our best present that morning. His entire life has been a miracle to us! After taking turns getting a nice hot shower, we got the baby ready and packed presents in our car and went to Mike & Bonnie's house for brunch and gifts. It was very nice.

When we left there, we went straight to Mom & Jamie's. We took a quick nap in their spare bedroom while we waited for my sisters and their families to arrive. We ate an incredibly delicious supper and opened an enormous amount of presents that were absolutely perfect. It was nice to spend time with the family. We left around 8 p.m. and came home and started putting things away until we were so tired we couldn't keep our eyes open. We fell into an exhausted sleep, including Joshua who slept relatively well overnight. It was a beautiful Christmas weekend. My favorite gifts of all are Shawn and Joshua. I also LOVE spending time with our families, who have blessed us with holiday traditions over the years and made many special memories for us. We love you all!