We got to my parents a little later then planned and ended up leaving shortly after to attend Christmas Eve service at my old church, Long Beach Alliance. Generally during Christmas eve service there is no childcare so John and I traded turns watching the kids in the hall. ( I just re-read this and wanted to note kids are not excluded from service, it's just my kids are little and were being loud. It was better for them to be out playing around) Although I only got to hear part of the sermon and worship music, it was still wonderful to be in the presence of God in celebration of His Son's birth. After church we headed back to my folks house where we enjoyed some Chinese food and the company of my dear family. It has been a long time since all of the siblings and our children have been together. I think my mom was overjoyed!
This was also Mason's very first Christmas and the first time Abigail really participated in opening up gifts. I think both of them got pretty overwhelmed with all their gifts and the excitement of Christmas.
The best part of the evening was when my brother dressed up like Santa. Now the suit he wore was the suit my father-in-law wore for my husband nearly 40 year ago. Needless to say this was an old musty suit. I think the suit was disintegrating by the second. My brother is the best and played the role perfectly. He snuck out the back and knocked on the front door. Seeing him through an adults eyes was hilarious but I am not sure why the kids didn't head straight into our arms. The only one who booked it was Mason. He whined and crawled away, would crawl back, take a peek, crawl away and do it all over again. My brother was so much fun as Santa and although I cannot recount the things he said I can tell you it was funny. Mason got one of the neatest toys, here he is checking it out.
Mason was given one of the neatest toys and he hasn't stopped playing with it. Here he is checking it out. 
Christmas day we headed back home to wait for my husbands parents who were flying in from New York. They were scheduled to arrive at 6 pm, however after sitting 4 hours on the runway the didn't get in until 11pm. They came over the next morning with many more gifts for the kids. Here is Grandpa Santa.
One of the gifts Abigail received was princess chapstick which she LOVED and would not stop putting it on. I figured no big deal once it goes down to the base that will be the end of that. Of course I didn't share that thought with my husband who ended up showing her how to raise it... oh well she finally got distracted and I quickly hid it. 
I wish I had a picture of Noelle when she received her gift from her grandparents but I decided to film it instead. She got an IPOD touch which made her Christmas. The kids were blessed with many new toys. John and I decided to put several away and over the next few months give then a new one here and there. We also cleaned out many of there old toys to give way. It has been a wonderful Christmas, thank you Jesus for coming here to save us!
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