This Christmas

This Christmas:

1. We packed our Christmas gear, hopped in the car (and then on a ferry boat) and headed on up to VT to spend Christmas with our favorite VT cousins.

2. We spent Christmas Eve day on the sledding hill, as per custom, enjoying the picturesque snowy Vermont. (Hooray for a white Christmas!)

The Mad-family sledding.
The VT Mad-family sledding.

3. We ate our traditional Christmas eve spread of 'lil smokies, salad, Ruffles & onion dip and French onion soup.

4. We acted out the Christmas story, with Will as Dada Joe (second year running); Beth as Mama Mary and Sam as the perfect sheep. Other positions were filled by friends of Sam and Beth's.

That there sheep was thirsty for some hot chocolate.

5. We got some new Christmas Eve jammies and had the obligatory Christmas Eve jammies photo.

6. Will woke up at the crack of dawn (surprise!) and couldn't hardly wait to, "Go see Santa Cwaus." (He'd been soooo excited to see Santa that when I went to tuck him in that night--he stirred in his sleep, rolled over and whispered, "Santa Cwaus comin' to town." It really was the sweetest thing ever). I hadn't realized he actually thought Santa Claus was going to be there on Christmas morning. After a little chat and some tears, Will calmed down enough to take the Christmas-morning-on-the-stairs shot:

But his calm didn't last for long: (yes, that is one biiiig cry)

7. Will got Big Mack, filled with friends of Snot Rod, from Santa Claus. And that cheered him up. He didn't even seem to notice the absence of Santa Claus.
Note: Today, Will turned to me and said, "Next time Santa Cwaus come to church with us." I'm thinking he thinks Santa is some distant relative who will, hopefully, one day come on over to our house and stay for a while. He also keeps asking me for random toys and tells me that, "Santa Cwaus will get 'em for me". Right.

And Charlie (a.k.a. Purple Thomas) in his stocking. (Well, in his pseudo-stocking. I forgot the stockings so Beth made him a toy-mat. She's good to have around in a pinch).

9. We had to stop the opening of presents on several occasions:

to play with our Santa presents (all three cousins playing with Sam's choo, choos),

to color with our new markers,

to watch an entire episode of Sam's new Thomas the Train "yow",

to eat breakfast,

and to put out an oven fire (from the bubbling butter of the cinnamon rolls. It was seriously smoky).

10. Baby James had his first Christmas.

11. Nate tried on all of his Christmas loot--and hey, it even all matches!

12. The kids had innumerable "jump-a-light-shows" act 3,700. (Don't even ask).

13. And we remembered why we celebrate Christmas: for the gift of our Savior--his life, birth, death and Resurrection--without which we'd have no reason to be merry at all.