5 'P's in a Pod: Christmas 2013

Monday, January 6, 2014

Christmas 2013

Our December was quite busy this year. We were actually home only 2 weeks out of the whole month--due to graduation/Christmas in Texas and then Christmas in Tennessee. Hence the minimal Christmas décor and the small tree.

While in Texas we celebrated not only Spencer's graduation but also Christmas since we missed Thanksgiving. It was a busy week but was so glad to see family and watch the cousins play together! Spencer led his first Christmas Eve service as Sr. Pastor (and Dr. Plumlee) at Riverview. The sanctuary was full! He also had the kids come down and chat (kids say the funniest things) and talk about the Christmas story. Seth loved going down front and sitting next to Dad, and he even answered some questions! There was no nursery so I had both boys in the back during the service in case it got ugly...but thankful for my friend Heather who was there to help me (the boys adore her). We also made a Happy Birthday Jesus cake earlier that day that Seth decorated. That night Spencer and I exchanged our gifts so that we could focus on the boys on Christmas morning. Seth was pretty excited about Christmas! We started something new this year to help keep the focus on Christ and not the presents. The first gift the boys open is the baby Jesus from our nativity set symbolizing that Jesus is the best gift of all. The boys get 4 gifts: 3 to keep and 1 to give away to a friend...and eventually as they get older, a charity. We quickly packed the car after gifts and headed to Tennessee for more Christmas! It was great to see everyone and play with baby Patrick (as Seth calls him). Tons and tons of pictures of our Christmas below...