Christmas

Our Christmas was wonderful even though it began at 5:50 a.m. Nikolas got up and woke everyone else up and then came and woke Adam and I up. That was a little too early for me, but we got up. By 8:00 the living room looked like this…

We got a pickle ornament this year to put on the tree. The Legend of the Pickle says that the pickle is a "symbol of good luck. The first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning was rewarded with an extra gift. This tradition encourages children to appreciate all the beautiful ornaments of the tree, rather that rushing to see what Santa has left for them." We did this and Ammon found the pickle first. We decided that the reward would be to open the first gift. After Ammon we went in birth order around and around opening one gift at a time until all the gifts were gone. It was so fun to see everyone open their presents, even for the kids. They were all very patient. Kalixta was the only one to open a gift when it wasn’t her turn.