Christmas!

A few days before Christmas, my Aunt Lori died. She lived in Kerrville, TX which is only an hour or so away from us. Aunt Lori is my mom's only older sister. I'll post more on that later. However, because she died, a whole lot of family was coming into town. We were saddened by her death but feeling very lucky at the same time. Nana and Grandpa would be able to spend Christmas with us. We kept that part a surprise from the boys. They didn't think they'd see Nana and Grandpa until that weekend. On Christmas Eve, my parents decided they wanted to Facetime with the boys. They called us and talked to us for a minute. All the while, they were standing in our front yard. They knocked on the door and Kade said, "Hold on! Someone is here!"

When they answered the door they were surprised and so excited to see Nana, Grandpa, Uncle Brock, Aunt Becca and Aunt Kyky at the door! We absolutely loved having them!

As tradition goes in our house; we ate Chinese take-out, opened our pajamas, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and sent the boys to bed. 

Then Santa Came. 

On Christmas morning, we all got together in mine and Aaron's room to read Luke 2, before we went downstairs. We read about the birth of our Savior, talked about his life and the importance and meaning of Christmas, all the while we watched the sunrise. It was the most perfect Christmas morning. 

We headed downstairs and Kade was overly excited. I love this age with kids and holidays. 

And just in case you needed a reminder about how cute Max is..... geez, he kills me. 

After all the gifts were opened, we had our traditional German pancakes. So yummy! 

Then we cleaned everything up and had a movie marathon. We were all feeling a little under the weather, so a nice relaxing Christmas was just what we needed! 

We had a nice ham and potatoes dinner and went to bed early. We headed down to San Antonio the next morning for the funeral.

I got to use my Poland plates and serving dishes! Finally! This is the set that Aaron bought for me as my Mother's Day gift when he was living in Poland in the Spring in 2012. 

At the end of the day, I asked Kade what his favorite present was (Aside from his Bey Blades. I already knew that was the favorite. It was the only thing on his wish list.) He told me, "Nana and everyone being here." It made Christmas extra special this year.