For Christmas this year...my brother and his family came from Oregon to celebrate with us along with my parents.
The day they arrived was wet and cold and dreary...we were hoping to show off our beautiful Carolina blue sky to them...but had to wait.
Christmas Eve - we woke up early and prepared for our annual cinnamon roll route.
This year we split up and Essie and my dad joined with the "southern" drop-off route.
Then it was home for a quick change and then off to church for Christmas Eve service.
Hailey and Essie getting ready with their candles.
Riyah, Amy and Heaven before service.
Jackson sat with his friend, Louis Bash, for the service.
It was a beautiful service...finishing our Unlikely series.
Reminding us of God's love for us in sending Jesus.
And finishing with Silent Night.
We wanted to take family pictures afterward at the HUGE Christmas tree but everyone else had the same idea! So we settled for the preschool tree :-)
Bruenenkant-Jimenez Family
If you look carefully, you can see that Jackson is starting to show signs of how his night will go.
Sadly, he ended up coming down with the flu and spent the next few days in bed.
Completely missing Christmas AND time with his cousins.
He was SO sad.
Christmas morning the kids were ready to open presents with Grammie and Poppy!!
Amy made a beautiful painting for them.
Jackson tried to make a brief appearance but quickly ended up back in bed.
Several of our presents this year were made from pictures of our Disney trip.
We got a super soft blanket...a puzzle...and each of us received a Christmas ornament with our favorite picture of the trip.
The Brunenkants came after a bit and shared their presents with us!
And then it was outside to jump on the trampoline and play Jason's came of Kubes.
Amy and Hailey got a polaroid camera for Christmas...these are some of their pics for the day.
We had several fun things planned for the next several days - making cookies, visiting Billy Graham library, seeing a movie and just hanging out together...but sadly, Hailey joined Jackson in bed.
The two little ones were down for the count for almost an entire week.
Tyler and Amy tried to play host as best they could
And they honestly did a very good job!
It was definitely not how we thought Christmas would go...
but we are thankful for the generous gift my parents gave of time together.
All the grandkids (including the sickos) saying goodbye.
And hopefully...getting better real soon!!
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