Fruit Snacks For Christmas

I have to admit that this was the toughest month of waiting for Christmas that I’ve had in years. Every day seemed to drag on into a seemingly endless week… It was almost painful some days. Most of my months (not to mention weeks or days) seem to zip by in a blur of frenzied busyness.

So why did this Advent season become like the last week of school in Jr. High??? Waiting to give the boys their Christmas present…

We all got lots of great gifts this year! Some of which we were anxiously expecting and others that took us by surprise.

I was so glad our chocolates didn’t melt overnight in the family room!

 

Even Tabbi wanted to help

But I’m not sure she was very excited about her gift… :o)

Will got Legos (not a surprise) :o)

Chris and I got a new camera from Santa. While I was totally surprised, Chris was not and made me open it right away so I could take the rest of our Christmas morning pictures with it!

Chris took a picture of me taking my last picture with our old camera

 

Zack got new computer speakers (I’m pretty sure he was surprised)

 

Will got a camo coat and I’m surprised by how much he likes it!

   

Despite the really great wrapping job, I’m pretty sure Chris was surprised when he opened his 15 pound splitting maul.

But Andy was probably equally unsurprised by his 15 pound weight once I set the gift bag on his lap… :o)

I love the boys’ choice of gift tags!

I’m hoping for no more surprises when I arrive at a potluck thanks to a new crock pot with a sealing lid!

Looking for more gifts under the tree…

Now Zack will be all safe with his new muffs and goggles!

We were able to wrap up Andy with the paper from Chris’ sawhorses

 

I was not surprised that I got felt but I CAN’T WAIT to make all sorts of fun stuff with it!!!

 

I am sure that Will will take some surprising pictures with his new camera…

Andy likes his new survival knife!

Zack was TOTALLY surprised by his real handcuffs! I’m surprised I haven’t had to deal with more handcuff incidents… Well, I did see someone handcuffed after church on Sunday. LOL

As you can see, Chris was pleasantly surprised by his new rubber mallet! We lost his old one somewhere…

I’m looking forward to our new devotional for 2011!

Chris was not surprised by his new computer writing pad, but I was not about to pick that out. :o)

I’m not sure Andy was surprised that he got the new Force Unleashed. But I was REALLY surprised that he beat the whole game by Sunday evening!!!

Then came the big moment that I’d been waiting for all month long… The boys’ gift from Santa!

They threw aside the newspaper to reveal a box of Disney fruit snacks…

The most surprising part was that Zack was actually convinced that Santa had given them a box of fruit snacks for Christmas! What kind of parents does he think we are???

Thankfully, William was not convinced and knew there had to be more in the box… So he kept on digging and found

   Disneyland brochures!!!

Yes, we are taking all the boys to Disneyland in January!!! We are so EXCITED and they were definitely SURPRISED!!!

 Guess what we’ll be eating on the drive down??? :o)

After the presents were all opened at done with, we relaxed for a bit before heading south to my parents’ for Christmas dinner.

While we had a great time being down with family for Christmas, Chris and I spent most of the time frantically trying to find a hotel with vacancies for our Disneyland trip. Unfortunately, we chose the week of a huge convention in Anaheim and all the hotels were booked… Fortunately, we serve a big and good God who provided us with the PERFECT accommodations just as we were beginning to give up hope!

   Looking at pictures!

We had a truly wonderful and very blessed Christmas! But I think the next two weeks are going to be VERY LONG!!!