Saturday, December 24, 2016

Happy Birthday and Christmas Eve

My birthday started out great with a nice run with friends.  As I walked in the door when I got home, the boys all came running out with balloons and yelled, “Surprise!”  They had decorations up around the house for my birthday.  Kent and Christie then took us all out to breakfast for my birthday, with Kelly, and Jessa too.  It was delicious, and the kids had fun eating out to celebrate.

IMG_6730

When we got home, the boys had gone with my mom when she was here out on a “secret mission.”  They brought out the stuff they had found that day, and it was the supplies for a Dollar store birthday party.  I hadn’t had one of those in a few years, and the boys thought it was a ton of fun.  We had competitions using dollar store items to see who could bounce the ball on the paddle the most time, who could use the mini-golf set to go through the obstacle course the fastest, who could last the longest in the mini Jenga game, who could race their car across the finish line first, and who could catch the bouncing baseball the most times in the time limit.  Each game winner got to choose a prize from the dollar store prize bag. 

IMG_6748  IMG_6757 

The boys made me some really cute cards, including some great coupons that Landon got for me.  They all huddled around as I opened and read each of their cards to me. 

IMG_6763  IMG_6769

IMG_6772  IMG_6785IMG_6781  IMG_6789  IMG_6792  IMG_6794  IMG_6795IMG_6797

In the evening, Kelly and Jessa came over, and we had a nice dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, red and green layered Jell-o, green beans, and razzleberry pie for dessert.  It was all delicious!

IMG_6812  IMG_6856

After dinner, we started the Christmas Eve festivities.  First, we used my new chime set that Mary sent to me to play some Christmas songs.  It was so much fun to have our own set to play!  The kids had fun, and we weren’t too bad either. 

IMG_6853  IMG_6855

After that, we acted out the nativity story.  This year, I made a little script to follow.  It had scriptures, some dialogue, and some songs.  For the songs, I found Youtube videos of the songs with lyrics so that everyone could follow along and sing easier.  It worked out great!

IMG_6828  IMG_6842IMG_6845

The kids then got ready for bed while Shane hid the books in the front room.  They all had fun searching for their hidden present, and they were excited about each of their books.  Then it was time for bed! 

IMG_3778  IMG_6857IMG_3781  IMG_3783  IMG_6860

No comments: