Santa made an early stop at our house on Saturday morning. The Fire Chief was able to put in a call to him for daddy since he is working on Christmas day. Walt seemed ok with this and we even got them down at a decent hour. I couldn't wait to see their faces on Christmas Eve morning!
Christmas Eve morning: all was quiet in the house until the sound of an alarm made Eric and I sit straight up in bed. Luckily, it was Walt with his new found boat firetruck that Santa had brought him. This is the one toy that Walt has been consistently asking for so I was pleased to see that Santa kept his promise. I hurried downstairs to turn on the lights and get into position for when Ella walked into the room. She is at such a fun age and really getting into opening gifts. She was so cute as she walked into the den and saw her new pink kitchen playset and her hippo pillow-pet. It was such a joy to see them so excited. By 9 a.m. the kids were on new toy overload and we enjoyed breakfast and being together. We made it to our Christmas Eve Service at Oak Mtn. It is always a packed out service and I almost feel like I'm in the stable in Bethlehem because there is a constant stream of crying and talking....it's really just all of the babies and kids. Walt and Ella did well except for when I think Walt was doing somersaults down the side aisle. Ella love the music and showed her appreciation at the end of each song with applause and a loud "YAY"! So sweet.
After church, we headed over to our good friends the Brown's house for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Dawn's parents and Eric's mom and sister were also there so it was nice to be surrounded by family. We enjoyed taco soup and salad and for dessert the kids led us in a round of Happy Birthday Jesus. We even got to see Santa riding around Hoover on the big ladder fire truck. This made Walt extremely excited.
The Eric's sync their Iphones...
Christmas day we woke up to rain. Eric left early to get to the station so the other guys could get home to be with their families. The kids slept in until 8a.m. and for this I was grateful. We played all morning and then at noon we went to eat lunch with Daddy and his friends at the fire station. We enjoyed spending some time with daddy and I know it helped make his day go a little faster.
While we have enjoyed our gifts we are most thankful for the gift of Jesus!
"Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
And I'll close with this sweet video of Walt! It makes my heart smile!
![]() |
| From Away in a Manger |









