Christmas with the Hekmans

We had a nice time celebrating Christmas starting on Christmas Eve. Almost all of the Hekman/Christensen clan attended Immanuel's Christmas Eve service. It was nice to be with them and also my mom, dad, and grandma. Christmas morning, at our house, we read the Christmas story from Luke 2, sang happy birthday to Jesus (with a candle in a piece of yummy caramel roll) and opened presents. Mike and I had stayed up the night before getting things ready. The rest of the day we spent at Mom and Dad Hekmans' enjoying the food, fun, and gifts. We did a white elephant exchange later that night--first annual. Now we are off to celebrate with my family in the great northwest. Our flying adventure begins tomorrow.

Jenelle

Matt, Mom, and Annette

Mark, Annette, Mike, Dan, and Mom sharing a moment.

Ian

Emily and Olivia Amanda

Dan holding the quilt Annette made for him.

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Jessica and I holding the boy cousins--
Ethan (1 month 3 weeks) and Clayton (18 months).

Mom and Dad enjoying opening a meaningful gift.

Auntie Annette snuggling with her
birthday buddy.

Clayton had a great time playing Duplos with Daddy.
It was so sweet to see them building together.

A Few Things

Mike gave me an early Christmas gift. He found a frame and hung up our engagement picture on the wall in our bedroom. Look how young and carefree we were.:)
After CJ puts his clothes in the hamper, he's supposed to go right to the bathtub, but recently, he has been going in the front room and sitting on the couch--in all his glory.

Clayton's favorite thing to do--see more and touch more

The kids and I with our Christmas tree
Clayton has fun knocking stacks of things down.

Santa and the kids

Last night, we attended Mike's work Christmas party at Casa Trejo. It was a nice time. Lots of kids, so the noise Jenelle and Clay made wasn't noticeable. It was nice to be with Tony (the man Mike works with) along with his family and Mike's parents. The hosts of the party had a Santa and an elf who presented each child with a gift. Jenelle and Clay were not so fond of being on Santa's lap. Kind of funny. I remember a picture of my sisters and me on Santa's lap and I was bawling like my kids did.












Jenelle took some time to recover, but she is enjoying both of their gifts today.










We went to visit Denise and baby Miranda today and Jenelle got to hold Miranda (born 11/15/07). She was very careful and was very proud. I am proud of her.

Weekend

Jenelle helped Clay to pose.


I got to spend some time with 3 college girlfriends on Sunday afternoon. We made Christmas goodies and I came home with some very tasty treats! What's more amazing is that I have not eaten them all. :) They are in the fridge and freezer waiting for another time.

This morning, I tried to take the kids' pictures in front of the Christmas tree. The individual pictures turned out well, but Clay wasn't a real good sport for the two of them together. Oh well. As you can see, our tree is only decorated on the top 1/3. Sign of our time of life.

Clay's new trick is to move the stool anywhere in the house that he thinks he would like a better view and/or grasp. Kind of cute and kind of frustrating.:)

God's Grace

Today is a laid back day. The kids and I played out in the front yard. There is more sun out there. Jenelle would like to go outside when it's 35 degrees, but I like to wait until it's about 50 and sunny. We had fun watching the mulberry leaves fall as I kicked the ball into the tree

Christmas shopping is basically done. I have gotten to do a lot of it online. I have enjoyed not fighting the crowds. We do not have a lot of Christmas decorations up. We have our Little People Nativity set up and the kids enjoy playing with it. Jenelle knows the complete Christmas story from Luke in the Bible. She recites it animatedly. She knows that Christmas is about Jesus--His birthday.