Hardwick Christmas

First up of the holiday celebrations - the Hardwick Christmas. My parents ended up staying with Ellie and I the week leading up to Christmas, so they were able to celebrate with us while Jesse was away. On Christmas Eve, we went to Providence for their 5pm service. As expected, it was an adventure to have a toddler in their for too long. Ellie made it about half way through and then I ended up taking her out into the foyer to run around with some of the other kids and their parents that had the same problem. The service was great - really put the holiday into perspective, especially after our church had finished a study on the 7 churches of Revelation.

We came back home and had Italian Beef sandwiches for our dinner. After bath time, we all went into the bonus room and my Dad read the Christmas story (a tradition we did when I was a kid) and I showed Ellie the story with her Little People Nativity. That was a great activity for her to put names with the story. Once Ellie was in bed, I, I mean Santa put out the treats for the morning. :)

Christmas morning, we had Ellie wake up and come see her treats. Jesse and I decided to wait on her presents from us for when he got home, but we went ahead and did Santa with her. She was very excited about her new toys and treats!

We had our birthday breakfast for Jesus and then went upstairs to the bonus room and did presents with my parents.

Afterwards, we showered and got ready to head up to Cincinnati to get their in time for Christmas dinner at my brother's house. It was fun to celebrate with Jonathan, Jennifer, Baby Langston and Jennifer's dad. We ate a yummy dinner and then opened presents. It was fun to see Langston surrounded in gifts and in total observation mode! We had a great time together, even though it was short. My parents, Ellie and I headed back to Knoxville the next morning so my parents could start their trip back to FL the following day. Merry Christmas, Hardwicks!