{"id":10742,"date":"2010-12-30T18:30:03","date_gmt":"2010-12-31T00:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/30\/christmas-eve-4\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T18:30:03","modified_gmt":"2010-12-31T00:30:03","slug":"christmas-eve-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/30\/christmas-eve-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Eve!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is a picture of our family before the Christmas Eve service.  I didn\u2019t realize I was holding my belly, but I guess I just can\u2019t wait to include Rose in everything!!!  The big joke of Christmas was Anna Kate\u2019s need for an \u201cice pack!\u201d every time she slipped while we were at Poppa and Rara\u2019s.  She did take one big fall (I\u2019m so sorry little one) at the beginning, and after that, she loved the \u201cice pack\u201d attention.  She\u2019d run to the freezer and whine \u201cice pack\u201d \u201cice pack\u201d until someone came to get it out for her!<\/p>\n

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When we got home, we made Poppa\u2019s homemade pizzas.  The girls loved helping add the ingredients, and this has become a fun Christmas eve tradition for us!<\/p>\n

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This picture is great in so many ways.  My belly really makes me laugh!<\/p>\n

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We draw names on the Banks side for Christmas, so next on the agenda was to skype the Eberts and open \u201cSecret Santa\u201d gifts in the game room\/Poppa\u2019s \u201cwar\u201d room as it was nicknamed from the Neches River Wildlife Refuge project.<\/p>\n

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Since it was Christmas morning in Japan, Drew and Anna loved showing us their Christmas presents.<\/p>\n

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We loved spending time with John and Nancy!<\/p>\n

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Noelle made all of her grandparents homemade crafts this year.  She was so proud to have worked hard on her gifts this year!  She keeps bragging about how much everyone loved her crafts; she has such a giving heart.  Okay, one more story about Noelle\u2026 in the car before Christmas, she stated to me, \u201cI am going to give all my pennies to the poor and do chores to get more money. God would be so proud of me if I did that!\u201d  Noelle\u2019s got something special going on with her little heart!<\/p>\n

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Thanks Rara for the custom \u201cN\u201d apron and Samantha movie.  We\u2019ve already watched it 3 times I think, and she thinks of you every time she sees it! (and the Swan Princess even more times than that!)<\/p>\n

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Each time the girls would open a present, they would bring it back to the wagon to play with.  All the girls decorated the wagon with the anticipation of a Christmas Eve wagon ride to look at the neighborhood lights (Ra\u2019s fun idea), but it was pouring rain!  It seems like great ideas never go to waste though, because this was hilarious and something I\u2019ll never forget!  Maybe we should have a \u201cgift wagon\u201d every year!<\/p>\n

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Mike was so happy to get some more winter hats, and Poppa struck gold with his $10, 4 huge posters inside, all about Taylor Swift magazine!  When he took Noelle grocery shopping for us last time he was in Arlington, she supposedly threw a little fit about needing this magazine.  Well, the rule is no fits if you want something, so she did not get it that day.  Needless to say, she was so shocked to open her present from Poppa to find this and beyond thrilled!  <\/p>\n

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Isn\u2019t Jax a little cutie! <\/p>\n

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More loot!   <\/p>\n

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Poppa with Jax and Cash (John and Nancy\u2019s dog).  <\/p>\n

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Then it was time for \u201cThe Night Before Christmas,\u201d sprinkling reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter), and then reading the Christmas story of Jesus\u2019 birth when we were all tucked in bed.<\/p>\n

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Ever since Mike\u2019s been working on his project, Noelle has cuddled with me until Mike gets to our room at night, so Santa was a little challenging this year.  I kept going upstairs and telling her I had to go back down and check on one more thing (make sure cookies for Santa were in place, make sure kitchen lights were turned off, etc).  I finally got it all unloaded and laid out.  She wanted three things: an American girl doll, a bathrobe, and a charm bracelet.  I added some accessories for the doll and cute things I couldn\u2019t resist throughout the year.  She kept saying, \u201cWow, Santa brought me lots of bonuses!\u201d  Each time she discovered an item that was not on her list, she\u2019d say, \u201cThis is a bonus!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Anna Kate helped me with her stash too.  On school days, when we were out and about, she\u2019d find things to play with in the store, and we\u2019d buy them together for Christmas.  Her three things were: rain boots, piano, and \u201ccar keys.\u201d  Her bonuses included an outfit for her zuhzuh pet, more hamster tunnels, dolls, play food, butterfly towel, throw, and jewelry!<\/p>\n

I anticipated Christmas morning more than ever before!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  This is a picture of our family before the Christmas Eve service.  I didn\u2019t realize I was holding my belly, but I guess I just can\u2019t wait to include Rose in everything!!!  The big joke of Christmas was Anna Kate\u2019s need for an \u201cice pack!\u201d every time she slipped while we were at Poppa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pondfam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}