Today my parents came over to celebrate Christmas with us. We were so excited to have them as our honored guests! We planned a fun brunch with some of our favorite foods. We had waffles and biscuits and cinnamon rolls and fruit & dip and hot cocoa and a cheese tray. Each of the older five children took charge of a different part of the meal, and they did a great job. Laura made the biscuits without any help from me. Isaac worked on the cinnamon rolls and the old-fashioned hot cocoa. Luke was the main waffle man, while Miguel was the waffle assistant. His job was to mash the fruit to make topping for the waffles. Amelia was the cheese-cube lady and the fruit-dip maker. She also arranged the cut fruit on the platters around the fruit dip, and she made sure the fruit-dip containers stayed filled. I can’t help but remember what Michael’s dad used to say, “Welcome to the Lyons Den… we’d love to have you for dinner!” But of course, we’d have to modify that and say, “…we’d love to have you for brunch!”

Our day was so pleasant. The children behaved rather well; the food was delicious; meaningful gifts were exchanged; Grandpa told a sweet Christmas story; and the day was relaxed and full of interesting things. I don’t know how it could have been any better. (You can see photos from our day in my gallery.)

Tonight the children all took their baths in anticipation of church tomorrow. Luke asked if he could take a bath in the jacuzzi tub, and we said that was fine.

Later, when Michael went in to tell Luke to finish up, he opened the door, stopped short and then hurried away to find the camera. What a silly boy Luke is!  I guess that the suds really pile up when the jets are running.

Even though I’m quite tired tonight, I’m happy with our day and our celebration. I’m also eagerly looking forward to Christmas next Tuesday. I can’t wait to see what the kids think of our gifts to them.