I absolutely love the way our house is set up so I can capture the kids coming down the stairs as they see their presents under the tree and their breakfast baskets waiting for them on the table!

Enjoying our Breakfast baskets. I didn't get to bake this year but I found plenty of "treats" that the kids don't normally get for snacks since we eat all veggies and fruit for snack time. Mini helped with the little presents this year for our baskets. Great Grammie and Grampa provided our clemantines. You can see our sleigh in the middle of the table which is a tradition from Eric's side. Each person has a ribbon with their name on it and after dinner you take hold of your ribbon and all pull at the same time. The little presents come flying out all at once! FUN!

Time for opening presents!

Gotta get a close up of the PJ's. Let's see... Jared and Caleb's new Pj's were from Mini and Phoebe and Chloe's were from Grammie Dena.

Jared's favorite book of the morning!

Phoebe's book is about Priscilla Mullins and Chloe's is about Sacagewea!

Caleb was almost impossible to get a photograph when he opened his two books because he went down right crazy excited and then put his nose right into the books. *lol* I managed to snap this quick pose. The second one was about how much we saw his face the rest of the morning.

The kids all got special banks that have three slots helping them to learn to separate their monies by putting some to save for the bank, some they can use on their own for the store and most importantly some to give to church & missions. We, of course, gave them some money to start with!

The kids got Papa two presents...an orange Christian T-shirt and a new cell phone holder with a cross on it. This was the BIG hug they spontaneously gave him after opening his presents.

Mama's turn to open her gifts from the kids. This was their favorite since they know I love Anne of Green Gables... they gave me the Sequel DVD. Guess what I'm doing today?!

I got ambushed with the group hug too! *lol*

You were wondering what that big bag was in the background weren't you? This is a family tradition from Eric's family. Usually this is done after dinner as well but because we were leaving for the entire day and not returning home until really late we did it in the morning. This is what they call "the grab bag" The youngest gets to go first and pull a present out of the bag and give it to the person who's name is on it and so forth. Mini provides these gifts. This photo was Papa's turn to grab a present and give it away.

Here's the gang with their grab bag presents. Then we were off for the day...

From our Hearts to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

May your Christmas be filled with LOVE....

and pure Joy! 

For Christmas we made sure each child had their very own photo with Mama and Papa.

I didn't get many pics at my Grandparent's house today because I was just too busy enjoying myself with the kids and family. Dad took lots of pics so I might be able to share more with you later. Anyway, here are some...

Grammie was a BIG hit when she brought out the snowman ice cream cake! The kids decided even though there was no snow outside she brought the snow to us. It certainly was cold!

Close up of the cake. Look at those eager little hands to dig in!

Phoebe always gets her Grampa time in his lap!

Then we came home to our traditional Christmas Eve Tea as a family. They are also eating little turkey dogs and pieces of cheese for a light snack before bed.

I couldn't help myself... Eric has been Elf'ed! This thing had my kids laughing up a storm! *lol*

We are on spending Christmas Eve at my Grandparents. Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Hope you have those presents wrapped and ready. I'm thankful this year I didn't pick any outrageous toy  for the kids that is going to make us stay up all night to put together.

I'll leave you with last night's advent...

We read the book above and then read Matthew 5:14-16 and lighted our candles to let our light shine!

Grammy Joan has passed on her legacy of talking like Donald Duck!

***Take Two! Sorry for the technical difficulties earlier. I uploaded the video again to get the sound to match with his mouth.***

Worldofrondadebi gave the suggestion to check the hardware stores and sure enough Eric found one at our local hardware store on main street. The most wonderful aspect is that Eric bought a $70 tree for $35!!! They just marked down all their Christmas trees and such yesterday. I never thought I would like an artificial tree but it's very beautiful and I am so pleased.

The kids seem to adjust well to getting rid of the real one. The girls had helped me undecorate the real one and we had a lot of vacuuming to do afterwards. That is one thing I won't miss! The boys then helped me heave it out the door while Papa was out shopping for the artificial one.

Isn't it pretty?!

Jared wanting to get to the very top.

Caleb has to be lifted too just like his brother to get to the very top of the tree.

I love this photo of Phoebe so prim and proper as she puts her ornament on.

Chloe full of smiles as she contemplates where to put her ornament.

Posed picture time with our tree. You can really see in this picture how my two youngest (on the right) are both taller than the two oldest (on the left). Interesting...

Are we adorable or what?!

That's it we are going to go bonkers if our parents take one more picture!!

Showing our lighted manger scene on the hearth.

Our wise men left of the tree on their way to baby Jesus. Caleb is pretending to hold gold.

Caleb begged me to take a picture of him presenting gold to baby Jesus. Btw, in case anyone was wondering why our tree is so, well, gold it's because that is Caleb's favorite color. When we were shopping for garland and the tree topper when Caleb was two years old he grabbed the garland and held it tight to his chest while screeching excitedly "yewwow!!!" Then he noticed the yellow star and again could not leave without that "yewwow star."

Has anybody also noticed that the twins are wearing opposite colors tonight?!  They have decided to switch colors recently. I can tell these girls are really going to keep me on my toes!

One of you Xanga friends was looking for an artificial tree that was NOT pre-lit but I can't remember who it was. It seems as though they all come now pre-lit which I don't want. If you found a regular one can you please leave a comment and let me know!

It appears that Jared may be having asthma attacks due to our real balsam tree being in the house. The doc commented that the tree recently brought into the house could have been what has triggered his recent attacks the last couple of nights and he is now on prednisone to calm things down. In the meantime, I want to get the real tree outside to "feed the birds"  but I need to obviously replace it with another one that is safe for him so we don't make him feel bad or take the fun away.

I'm a little bummed because I love a real tree but on the bright side it does mean I don't have to deal with the mess and expense of it any more. There is always a bright side to everything right?! Eric and I have been noticing that the girls have had dark, red, racoon circles around their eyes the last couple of days as well so I'm wondering if they might be reacting to the tree too.

I'm going googling now... so far it appears walmart has all pre-lit.

As requested here is the best I can do for our family's recipe for Meat pies. Neither my Memere nor my Mom made our meat pies from a recipe. You know it's one of those secret family recipes... Seriously, they taste tested as they went along. So, when it was my turn to make the meat pies I had to remember the flavor from when I was little helping my Mom taste test as she made it. I worked with the spices and such until I finally think I got it vaguely. After I made the pies Mom approved!  If for some reason you don't like our family recipe google Tourtier or Canadian Meat pies and you will get a vast array of recipes to choose from as none are alike! Each Canadian French family will tell you THEIR meat pie is the real french meat pie. *lol*

Recipe for FOUR Pies. (yes we make that many!)

4 lbs Hamburger

4 lbs Pork

6-8 Potatoes

2 small Onions

4-8 cloves of Garlic (depends on your taste)

2 tsp of each -Cloves, Cinnamon and Sage

approx. 2 cups water to make mixture sticky and blended

Cook up meat, onions and garlic. Boil potatoes and mash. Mix all ingredients and then add spices and water. Make (or use the Red box of pillsbury dough pre-made) your own crust and fill with the meat mixture. Before cooking the pie in the oven glaze the top with egg white. Put in oven at 350 until pie crust is cooked and the filling is piping hot.

We serve meat pie with cranberry sauce and pickles.

Also, if you do not eat pork last year I successfully experimented with replacing it with lamb burger and it was delicious! I also replaced the hamburger with buffalo burger. The lamb and buffalo combo worked just as well!

There you have it! Clear as mud?! Maybe my cousin Kimmy will share her Dad's french side of the family recipe.

A yummy snack before we go! It was a bouquet made all from fruit.

All dressed up and ready to go...

Jared's family cheerleading section...

Jared at the Grand Piano. He played so confidently!  It is going to be a blast looking back at all the pics we have of Jared with his feet dangling at the grand piano later when he is grown and his feet finally touch the floor.

Everyone seems to be better today! Yay!! It caused me to go into a fibro flare up but that's my life. At least the bug seems to be moving on. Some of my online friends are trying to convince me to take care of myself and go get another deep tissue massage. I gave those up because I wanted to spend more money on the kids but I just may do it for a Christmas present to myself and see if I can get rid of this current flare up.

That was a nice thought...now on to the to do list... CHRISTMAS CARDS still need to get out!!!

Today, I need to go Christmas shopping for my two brothers as we have a Christmas party tonight at their father's house. I already bought something for my sister that I think she will love. Can't share now in the case she reads this. 

Tomorrow, we have family coming to Jared's piano recital.

Tuesday Night, the little girl I babysit is having a birthday party.

Christmas Eve will be at my Grandparents with my Dad.

Christmas Day will be opening gifts under our own tree and then lunch at Mom's.

See you in a week!  Nah, I should have some fun pics that I won't be able to resist sharing with you as the week unfolds. It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas!!!

ETA. OH I forgot to share a pic with you about a gift we got from Aunt Doris in Florida.

What's in the box?!

YUM!! Florida oranges and Grapefruit!! This is my kind of present...yummy and disposable! Seriously, you would never want to eat another grocery store orange after eating them this fresh from Florida. They are so incredibly sweet.