Year 3, December 25th, 2018: Christmas Day, Part 2, at J2

Over the river and through the woods to Grandparents house we go....

We had Christmas dinner, just the 8 of us, and then opened gifts.  Aaron and Shauna facetimed us when we were opening the gifts that they had so thoughtfully left for us.  And because it's been a week since Christmas, and I'm still tired, I'll probably keep this short.  But we did have a lot of fun and there was little to no fighting.  It was a great Christmas and everybody got exactly what they wanted, or close to it.  Gary said the theme for this Christmas was "fun" rather than "practical" or "overly meaningful."  So, let's dig in.  First up is the playlist of videos from our Christmas afternoon there.

Christmas at J2

Typical set up for Christmas.

Abishai's new RC trucks took over Grandpa's chair.  Grandpa played Santa this year.

Santa's little helper.

Too cute!

Reading the Christmas story as always, and praying, before we begin.

Let's get this party started!

Stockings first with favorite candies, condiments, and fun.

ASEN gave Abishai a cutie Chase Paw Patrol guy.

Green wrapping paper and green bow for someone who loves bright green everything.

Thanks Aaron and Shauna! The pants have batteries on them and game controllers.

Absihai got mustard in his stocking and Keturah got Ranch dressing.

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Hot cocoa and cute mug.

Scratch paper and ranch in Keturah's stocking.

Maple syrup and gift (regift?) of pictures someone took on PEI.  I also got the Starbucks Canada mug (regifted from Gary's collection) and Starbucks gift card in my stocking.

Opening up his baseball set!

Looks like a lot of fun, but messy!  Reminds of the toy from the 80's.

Super excited about something.

Air fryer so we use less oil.  And I received a video camera, but after trying it out for a few days and determining that it was very poor quality, we sent it back.  We'll go in and get a nicer camera after the first of the year.

Air pressure tank for the tires.

He got the EXACT Lego set he wanted!  Yes, the 4 yr old wants the 7 and up Lego sets!  He was so excited!

"Shake, shake, shake." "Clink, clink, clink."  I think it's, let me guess, Legos?

Yes!  Of course!  The pool set she wanted!

And more Legos!  Porg from Star Wars!  Benaiah was disappointed that he didn't get some!

But he did get a controller to go with his new Nintendo Switch. 

Hm, what did Jared get?

Finally! A set of fireplace tools!  These were on last year's Christmas wishlist!

New gloves for Grandma from Grandpa.

The new "Paul" movie on DVD.

Paw Patrol characters and their vehicles!  Not just one of them,......

....but all 6 of them!  A couple of them were duplicates from what he got from Stefanie, so Grandpa exhanged them for a water bottle and t-shirt. 

Another set of items that was on the Christmas wishlist/birthday wishlist for over a year.....American Girl (or rather the non brand) stuff!  First up, a motorcycle and the dog she wanted!

A horse!

And....

The camper!!!!  Yeah!!!!!!  Now I'm jealous!

She also got another 18 inch doll named Leah with riding clothes on as a companion for her doll.

Oh my.  Fancy box from Lego!  Would could it be?

No way!  It's a Lego Ideas set!  Lego Ideas starts with a fan, a master builder, who sends in their creation to Lego . Then the fans vote on it, people from corporate go over it, see if it's viable for production, then master builders in the company tweak it until it's ready to be produced.  It's a totally cool concept to go from fan to production!  A lot of the sets are based on real things or pop culture and are checked for accuracy.  These are models to be built and kept on a shelf.

Oh no way! Gary obtained the coporate catalog from CFA's owner and ordered a backpack, water bottle, and something else directly from the company.  Benaiah was so thrilled!  He loves his job and could see himself managing or owning a store someday.  He's even thinking about bivocational ministry.  It's pretty neat to see a 16 yr old so invested in his job!

Hm, what's this?  New jammies for Grandma to wear to Pajama Jam day at church on Sunday!  And she had a zipper fixed on a jacket for Grandpa as a Christmas gift.

Leah also got a new shirt that she had looked at and we gave her a candle in a teacup with roses on it.  It was a fundraiser for a young person to go on a mission trip.  And it's definitely unscented.

Jared's fun gift was a drone!  Very nice!  I'm sure there were more gifts I missed, but that's a good chunk of them.  We try to stick to the 3 gift rule at Gary and Leah's house, too, but it ends up being a category equals one gift, like Keturah's doll stuff.

Abishai finished his Porg he started at Grandpa's house.

And Abishai got to make his first vehicle from his Lego set after we went home that night.  We put everything away and crawled into bed.  A long, but good day.

A few leftovers from the iPhone.  I took most videos at our house on the Flip camera, and then the videos at Gary and Leah's were on my phone.  I have to clean up off my iCloud again, so I don't think I took as many as I usually do.

Fancy Christmas dinner with sparkling apple juice and birthday cake for Jesus.

Happy birthday, Jesus!

Yum!

All the Paw Patrol goodies, including the non duplicates.

This bike has lights and sounds and you can play music from your phone via the bike and bluetooth.  Cool!

The hardest part of the day is loading it all up to take it home, plus all of us fitting in the van.  It's a good thing I insisted that we drive the van over!

Nice panaroma shot that Jared did of Abishai's new Paw Patrol collection.  We didn't have any Paw Patrol toys until now and we don't know how long the obsession will last, but it's fun when the kids latch onto something for a bit.  The Thomas the Tank Engine phase didn't last terribly long with any of the kids, but they did like it a little bit.  Paw Patrol is a great show and oh so cute!  The End of Christmas day!