Well we hope that everyone had an enjoyable Christmas this year. We did. In fact I think it's time to buy a bigger house just so that we can put away all the toys and clothes that Kiya and Jaynie received from Santa and their grandparents.
On Christmas Eve we went up to Ben's parents and had a great meal with all of his brothers and sisters, and grandma and grandpa White were even there. It's so good to see them when we do, we don't get to visit them as often as we would like or even should.
After dinner we had the family gift exchange where Ben received a DVD holder from Dad (Brad), Amanda got a really nice bracelet from Mom (Teri), Madi gave Kiya some Fisher Price animals, and Jaynie got a doll from Carter (she was so fun to watch open her present, because as soon as she could see what it was she didn't even want to unwrap it all the way she just wanted to hold the doll).
Then it was on to Grandma Smith's to carry on with the tradition of caroling to those who are sick or in need of a little cheering up. After caroling we went to Grandma's house where she had soup and rolls for dinner, which was followed by the acting out of the Christmas story. Uncle Vern and Aunt Kathy were there too, and it is always so good to see them, they are such great people and always make you feel welcome and loved.
After our activities at Grandma Smith's we went back to Ben's parents where we went to bed and waited in anticipation of Santa's arrival.
In the morning we had a quick gift opening extravaganza, Amanda got one of her favorite movies, "Dan in Real Life", and a silver necklace with 3 blue saphires in circles (hard to explain, but really nice), Ben got a new DeWalt sander, some sand paper and a talk on tape from John L. Lund. Kiya received a lot of books, some clothes and some more toys, and Jaynie did about the same. After breakfast we hurriedly packed our stuff together and got on the road to Amanda's parents so that we could talk to Tiffany still on her mission to Portugal. We made it and enjoyed the hour long conversation we had with her, she sounds like a great missionary, and also just a hint of trunkiness, not much, but you can sense it. She only has about 8ish more weeks left, which really isn't that much left.
After the tearful hang up with Tiff, we got to open some of our presents that Santa left at the Bradford's for us. I guess since we're over there so often that Santa didn't know where to take all of our presents so he just left lots everywhere.
In the afternoon we went to Grandma Anitta's for dinner and conversation with the rest of the Bradford clan. It's good to see them since it's not very often that we get to, especially Tom, Susan and kids, and also Kelly, Patty and their family.
All in all Christmas was great as it always somehow turns out to be. We hope that you and yours were also able to enjoy a very merry Christmas.
