It was good. It was crazy.
And, in many ways, it was crazy good.
We missed Zach so much, who wasn’t able to be here until after the New Year.
(insert sad mama face here… I might have shed a few tears.)
But, for the first time, we had Victoria’s boyfriend Jon join us on Christmas morning. And his presence (he is positively adored by all the kids) added lots of extra fun to an already much-anticipated day.
Instead of typing out a rundown of the day, I’ll just let the (over 90!) pictures do the talking.
But I do want to share just a few of the details from the kiddos – starting with Miss Magnolia – so I don’t forget what made this year special for each of them…
Magnolia.
Favorite gift: New phone. Because I wanted it.
Favorite Christmas-y event: Gingerbread houses! Jon and Tori helped me fix my gingerbread house not fall. Sprinkles fall down and I eat them!
Clementine.
Favorite gift: Trolls (meaning Poppy Troll)
Favorite Christmas-y event: She really loved the Nutcracker ballet at Samford because she danced not only during the performance but for days afterward. She also loved decorating the gingerbread houses…
Me: Clementine, what was your favorite thing we did at Christmas? Did you like the ice skating?
Clementine: Nuh-uh.
Me: Did you like decorating the cookies?
Clementine: Head nodding no.
Me: Gingerbread houses?
Clementine: Yeah!
Me: And what about the Nutcracker? The ballet?
Clementine: Ballet! while nodding adamantly yes
Tallula.
Favorite gift: My Kidizoom Watch and my Pink Polka-dotted Bible
Favorite Christmas-y event: My favorite was the skating rink because I saw how Clementine was being funny – every time when Dad lets go she falls down and says, “Whoa, whoa!”
Poppy.
Favorite gift: Shimmer Art
Favorite Christmas-y event: Probably the gingerbread houses. There were lots of different things you could put on and my gingerbread house looked delicious.
Vivienne.
Favorite gift: My (Stuffed) Chicken Coop
Favorite Christmas-y event: Probably the Christmas cookies because we got to decorate them and they were yummy.
Shepherd.
Favorite gift: My Lego Ninjago
Favorite Christmas-y event: Our Christmas breakfast. The homemade cinnamon rolls with icing, that was really appetizing and the chickens’ eggs were delicious.
Jude.
Favorite gift: My new shoes
Favorite Christmas-y event: Christmas Eve and my Secret Santa gift from Zach – it was really fun to watch the Lego Batman movie he gave me and the KitKats were delicious.
Isabelle.
Favorite gift: My Gerber Multi-Tool
Favorite Christmas-y event: When we made the gingerbread houses. It was very fun to create my own little house and I could add anything I wanted, like a door out of a Hershey bar… I could be very creative. And then I ate it. 
Sophie.
Favorite gift: My new Koi Watercolor Set
Favorite Christmas-y event: I enjoyed making the gingerbread houses – they were fun to decorate and even Clementine participated… she kept eating all the decorations!
Dalton.
Favorite gift: My Basketball Rim
Favorite Christmas-y event: I liked Christmas dinner. It was super good and I like making stuff with you and Tori and Asher.
Asher.
Favorite gift: My Tascam MF-P01 (Multi-Track Cassette Recorder)
Favorite Christmas-y event: Ice skating at Railroad Park because I like ice skating and watching Clementine ice skate for the first time was super cutie.
It wasn’t perfect – some of the kids still argued and some of the presents weren’t exactly what they wanted (see Magnolia’s face above when she realized the gift she was opening was clothes of all things!) and some of us were overwhelmed by the day and fell asleep in the middle of it all.
But it was a good Christmas.
So very thankful to be able to celebrate Christ’s birth surrounded by so many incredibly precious blessings… from my firstborn down to the one that snores and steals my place on the couch.
And that makes for a Merry Christmas, indeed.