Christmas morning was very laid back B made Christmas pancakes for us on his new griddle and read the Christmas story from Luke to us. We opened gifts as a family one at a time, thinking about the person it was from and trying to make sure we emphasized the thoughts behind gift giving and not the gift itself. Sometimes it's hard to do with kids, but it's important to us that we encourage (make) our kids say thank you and they understand who the gift is from. It's bothersome to me that kids will open tons of gifts Christmas morning and think they are all from Santa or all from their parents....or even worse, not care who they are from. I was tempted to make our kids write Thank-You notes for their gifts but decided against that for this year. After gifts, I cooked a little food to take to Katy, and B played with the kids. We left our house around noon for Katy, TX. E got a little nap in the car, but that was the only rest time for our bunch. We ate Christmas dinner around 3 (I think) and we had a yummy ham, mash potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and mushroom casserole with dinner rolls and sparkling grape juice. I ate so much food! After dinner and clean up, we walked to the little playground down the street to get out of the house and started a 2-hand touch football game. I would love for this to be a yearly tradition because it was a lot of fun. After it started getting dark, and cold, we went back to the Marsh house for more food and NFL football on TV. I think we put the kids in bed around 9:00 which is pretty good for all the excitement of Christmas Day.
Friday morning after breakfast, I went to HEB with Paul M to pick up a few items and the plan was to head to the Houston Zoo. Instead of cousins exchanging gifts this year, we suggested to gift experiences and time. So we talked about going to NASA, seeing a Movie, going to Jumpstreet, or going to the Zoo. The zoo ultimately won and we needed food to make lunches. Well the weather didn't cooperate so instead of going to the zoo, we decided to watch a movie together. Most of the family went to see Annie and a few of the boys saw the Penguins of Madagascar. I think everyone had a good time and I really liked the movie. R liked it too and asked to see the original Annie. After the movie, we headed home for dinner and more play time before our family packed up and headed back to Alief. Saturday morning was normal for us with a YMCA visit and grocery shopping. We headed to Katy dressed and ready for our family picture. Since the entire "Hantla" family was together for the first time in over 5 years, it was time to document this with a picture. The siblings pitched in and paid for a professional photographer and he came to Anna's house for the picture. We all dressed in blues, greys, and tans with a little splash of purple (and pink too). I think they turned out really nice. Of course Gran and Papaw were thrilled with their Christmas gift and are showing their family off to all their customers at the shop.
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
