Christmas spirit

With the Christmas season winding down I look back at all the little things I stressed over and realize they were trivial to what should really matter. With Dave traveling, studying for numerous tests and graduating from school all in December, we didn't think about Christmas shopping until 2 weeks before Christmas which was kinda nice. Considering Dave just graduated and he doesn't have a job yet, shopping for both sides of the family without breaking the (very small) bank was tough. I like Mom Grace's idea that we just spend our money each year on going somewhere as a family, like renting a cabin in the mountains, instead of buying so much.

I tried to plan more activities to celebrate Christ's birth instead of focusing on gifts. We did have a great time on family outings. Next year I will plan a service project so we can give the kids a bigger picture of what Christmas is all about. I want the kids to remember each Christmas for what we DID for others instead of what presents they got that year.

On that note, our sweet Jessie got to stay up with Dad late a few nights before Christmas to wrap presents. Dad helped her wrap all her gifts to the family. Then they wrapped several in a row for Toby from Mom and Dad. Jessie started to cry and blurted out through her tears that she wanted to give Toby more than the one gift she had picked out. J felt bad that she only had one gift for Toby while we had several. She melted my heart right there and I realized how much little Jess loves her brother. We worked it out so that she gave Toby one of the gifts we had for him and I thanked Heavenly Father for such a thoughtful, loving little girl. I hope she keeps that Christmas spirit with her forever.

Merry Christmas to all!

Love the Bennett family!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with friends and family. It was a whirlwind weekend getting ready to host Christmas Eve dinner at our home, but well worth it. There's nothing better than forgetting about work & responsibilities for a few days to play with the chillies, lounge with family and enjoy good food.

My side of the family came over for dinner and some present fun on Christmas Eve. That meant we had 8 adults plus our 3 chillies in our tiny apartment. We put a big table in the living room and dusted off the nice china for a buffet feast. Tom BBQ'd the turkey (so delicious!), and we ate broccoli salad, fresh rolls, broiled potatoes and sweet potatoes. So many carbs so little time! ;)We opened gifts and enjoyed watching the kids bounce off the walls with delight. They were so excited and so sweet to everyone, including each other! J and TJ even got to see Simon (Dan & Lauren's dog) and play fetch with him in the front yard.

The chillies woke up way too early Christmas morning- 7:30 AM- even after staying up later than usual. It was awesome to watch them get as excited to see other family members open gifts from them as they were opening their own gifts. Dave's family came over in the afternoon to exchange gifts and spend a little time together. We did it right this year! :) Everyone came to our house instead of trecking the chillies all over town. They were so well behaved because of it too. The only place we went was to Great Gram's house for dinner on Christmas night.

J-Bird (6) wrote the cutest letter to "Satu" about wanting a gold hoola-hoop and wishing him a "mairy Christmas." Santa wrote her a letter back saying Hoopy the hoola-hoop elf was sick and couldn't make any hoola-hoops this year (because according to the kid at Toys'R'Us they are a summer thing). Santa knew that J wanted a kitty but that Mom and Dad were allergic to the real thing so he brought her an electronic kitty Giga-pet. She loves that thing. We get hourly reports that Kiki's health is at 93% and that she loves baths, being pet, etc.

TJ (3) helped retell the story of Jesus' birth on Christmas Eve which was a nice surprise. He really does listen at church and home when he's wiggling around and playing. Ben 10 and dinosaurs are his thing this year. Grandpa Dave gave him the Ben 10 watch which "changes him" into 10 different monsters. He hasn't let that thing out of his sight since yesterday. If one needs to locate TJ you just follow the annoying beep-beep beep-beep of his watch. It's fairly amusing to hear some of the names of these monsters fly outta TJ's mouth. Stinkfly, Wildmutt Heatblast, Diamondhead, GhostFreak and Ripjaws come rolling off his tongue like butter. I just shake my head and blame Daddy for getting him hooked.

Coop (20 months) is too young still to get what is really going on. There came a point yesterday when he didn't care to open another wrapped box and was content to play with one of two toys- his Little People farm or cars.

It has also been confirmed this year that Mom and Dad like shopping for toys way too much. Fisher Price made a killing on us this year!

What an awesome Christmas season! We are so blessed with a healthy family, close extended family, and the knowledge that Jesus Christ lives and is our personal Savior.