Leonard Party of 6: Merry Christmas! Happy New Year :)

WE had a fantastic Christmas!

We spent a wonderful Xmas Eve at my in-laws' house. Shane's brother/wife/family were there too. We exchanged gifts, hung out, had dinner and a wonderful time! The weather was cold and beautiful. We went to 5:00 pm mass and I saw many people I had not seen for awhile. Between my illness in November and the kids' illness and our trip to Vegas, etc we had not been to church (or much of anywhere like THE GYM but that's a different post, LOL!)

I love the 5:00 pm service (aka the family service) because the kids are able to get pieces of the nativity and as certain Xmas carols are played, each piece of the nativity is brought up and assembled as the Xmas story is told. It is really neat and keeps the kids engaged in the service. That is also the one time of year our (brave) Father John invites ALL kids to the altar as he does the blessing, etc. EVERY kid....with lit candles, all sorts of stuff everywhere and he looks so calm. Well, this year all 4 of mine went up. Griffin was right next to Father John and got to hold a plate during the blessing. He thought he was pretty hot stuff getting that job ;) On the way home we stopped in and picked up our haul from Papa and Grandma's house and came home to get ready for Santa.

We put out peppermint bark and carrots for Santa and the reindeer :) He must have been pleased because he left A LOT of stuff for our family! After the dust settled and we were all cleaned up, we headed to Mimi and Gumpy's house for MORE! We had a great time with gifts, a delicious dinner and wrapped it all up with a trip to the park near their new house :)