This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with my extended family.  We had lots of food, lots of people and lots of noise radiating through our home!  During our present exchange, I asked my amazing daughter, Claire, to capture some of the action on our camera.  The pictures that she took weren't necessarily what I had intended, but they make me smile, nonetheless!  I decided that I had to share our Christmas through my daughter's eyes:






















So, she certainly had her own unique way of photographing the event!! :)  I just love that girl!

I couldn't resist sharing a couple of photos of Ethan enjoying his new Buzz Lightyear car!  He just LOVES this gift - thanks Uncle Martin and Aunt Tanya!

This past weekend was everything that I had dreamed it to be.  All of my anticipations, excitement and thoughts about the weekend were met to the fullest.  You see, this past Friday, my husband and I left our children in the incredibly capable hands of our favorite babysitter/nanny and we headed to the little town of Manhattan Beach, Minnesota.

Never heard of it?  I hadn't either.  However, this little town (and when I say little, I truly mean tiny) is the home of the Manhattan Beach Lodge, where my husband and I would spend the entire weekend celebrating our 3rd anniversary (which was this past Tuesday).

We recently had our family pictures taken by the AMAZING Michelle Lund of Lund Studios.  The picture taking itself went well, but we were beyond thrilled when we received the pictures!  As we were looking through them, one picture in particular stood out to Monte and me:

Each year for Christmas Monte and I buy the kids one big thing.  We then give them the money to shop for everybody else in the family (with a price limit, of course!).  This has been a wonderful way for us to teach them about giving and to turn the focus of Christmas from Santa (where it was a few years ago) to the miracle of Jesus' birth and to the greatness of giving instead of always wanting to get something.

This lesson has been nothing short of amazing.

So, last night, my three big boys (Iain, Ellis and Colin) and I headed out to do some Christmas shopping.  We decided to settle on going to Dick's Sporting Goods, as that is a place that we all enjoy and can easily find things that we love.  The boys knew who was on their list to shop for, and I was included on that list.  They knew their price limit and I told them that I would do my best to not notice anything that they were buying for me (which didn't work out in the end, but that's okay!).

As we were walking through the store, Colin suddenly stops and says, "Kami, close your eyes, I want to show them something we should get for you."  I immediately closed my eyes as he pointed out his treasured find to his older brothers.  I could hear them stifling their giggles as they responded with, "uhhh ... Colin, um .. I think we don't have enough money for that!"

So Colin told me I could open my eyes and he insisted on showing me what he had chosen out for me:

I won't lie, normally the Christmas season has my head spinning.  I almost always am feeling overwhelmed about everything: Did we get all the presents we needed to?  When do we need to leave to make it on time to this celebration?  Do all of our kids have dress clothes that fit them?  Which Christmas Eve service are we going to at church?  Do I have all of the food that I need?  The list of things rolling through my head seems to go on and on and on (which, for the record, is VERY unusual for me, as I am one who's mind generally doesn't run on and on and on).

This year, though, something is different.

We don't have any less celebrations to attend (as we are hosting gatherings with my family, with a couple of Kelley's sisters and having our own celebration with our kids), we don't have any less presents to buy, we don't have any less children to properly clothe and we don't have any less food to prepare.

What's the deal?!  Why am I not freaking out about this yet?!

This year I promised myself to start each day with some time talking to God.  Granted, it's not been as successful as I had hoped, as my first thought when I wake up in the morning is not typically "Good Morning, Lord!" .... rather, it's more like "mmmmm hmmmph."  However, I have taken the time to quiet my spirit and talk to God throughout the day.  I am remembering to thank Him for the blessings we have and to focus my attention on the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Everything else seems to have just fallen into place, quite perfectly, I might add!

It's amazing how life works out when your priorities are where they should be.  My prayer is that this doesn't just last through the Christmas season, but that Christ will remain my focus all year long.

I can't lie, it's been awhile since I've participated in this fun little blog party/blog hop (whatever you really want to call it!) on the correct day, but today is the day that I make up for that!  YES!  So, if you'd like to join in on the fun, visit Mama M's Blog and get your question party on! :)

Hospitality is totally my thing; I love having people in my home for big gatherings and huge meals.  Naturally, when the Thanksgiving and Christmas season comes around, I am quick to jump at the opportunity of having many of these gatherings in my home or to help coordinate these gatherings in my extended family's homes.  This is my absolute favorite time of year!  It's a time for family to get together to enjoy meals, to play games, to have conversation, to relax, to be stressed out and to fight.