Christmas Celebrations!

Christmas this year was pretty crazy for us. Since we were in Hawaii for the actual day of Christmas we had to spread things out in order to get to celebrate with all of our family. So our events began on December 18th. This was two days before we left for Hawaii and we decided to do our Christmas morning this day. Mckinley is young enough that she has no idea what is actually going on so I figured what the heck is the difference between December 18th and 25th to her? Nothing. However, the day did not really go as planned.

On "Christmas Eve" (December 17th) I noticed at about midnight that our power had gone out---we were having a really strong windstorm, but I was hopeful that the power would be back on in the morning for my planned festivities. Unfortunately this was not so. Being the stubborn planner that I am though, I pushed forward with my plans (which included making crepes---just on the BBQ instead of the stove).

The morning went really well in spite of the fact that it must have been about 30 degrees in our house. Granted our "Christmas Morning" video is a little dark since we had no lights, the lights on the Christmas tree were not on, we were bundled up in winter clothes, and we had to eat cold crepes by the time they were all cooked via the BBQ. It was still a great morning of memories with our family though!

After we finished our morning we packed up and headed to my brother's house for a little warmer extended family celebration. Mckinley was showered with both love and presents from her Grandma Cheryl, Papa Steve, Uncle Brian, Aunt Gina, and Aunt Crista (and her cousins too of course). We had lots of fun with the fam and then headed home (which now had power!!) and crashed after a very long, eventful day!

We also celebrated Christams in Hawaii with Kevin's side of the family. It was a new experience celebrating Christmas in 84 degree, muggy weather, but it was SO much fun (more to come on Hawaii soon). We even had a little lighted Christmas tree to put gifts under. Mckinley woke up with a horrible cold, but she battled through it and seemed to still enjoy herself. Here are some photos of the crazy event (there were three kids 2 1/2 and younger!).

Yes, those are Twilight Sweet Tarts....a Kevin white elephant pick up.

This last picture was our attempt at getting all three girls in one picture...this never happens!! Obviously, our picture of the picture attempt isn't so great either! :)

We also had a quick celebration with my dad today! Christmas was about two weeks long for us this year and it was fantastic! It was our last Christmas with only one kiddo, which seems really hard to believe. While Mckinley won't remember this Christmas, we will. It was a completely different experience in many ways, but I do not think I would have changed a thing. Now we have those memories of cold Christmas morning, cooking crepes on the BBQ and warm Christmas mornings with palm trees and pineapple!