Christmas Day at the farm

Christmas day at the farm. What a treat!

Now, the way things roll at the farm is probably a little different than the way things roll in other homes on Christmas morning, but we like it. We always have. :o) We like to get up, get dressed, make a cranberry/strawberry smoothie, and Dad makes his pot of coffee, and then we eventually make it into the living room for gift opening, or to the table for Christmas morning breakfast, whichever we decide we want to do first. :o)

Little ones are always up first, regardless of the day of the year, but thankfully somebody else was also up by the time I had them dressed, and so down they went to be occupied by various means until everyone got into gear. Papa set about having Joy help him unload the dishwasher. 

He told me she very carefully took out every big plate, carried it all the way around to the cupboard, and repeated the process until they all were put away. :o) 

Trusting Papa.

And then of course, you have to close the door when you're done.

 Uncle Luke with the wee lad. :o)

The top and the bottom of the Collin clan, in reverse order, as the bottom has now become the top, and the top has now become the bottom... oh, except that Luke is still a bit taller than Avery. :o)

Chloe made a passing suggestion the day before that I do Hope's hair "up" for Christmas day, so I thought I'd try it. She loved it, and it stayed very well. Made her look 17. :o) Oops.
We decided to open stockings before eating, or as Luke and I did, we started eating when we reached the carmel popcorn ball at the bottom of our stockings. :o) The stockings weren't too big of a deal this year... they're just an available tradition for siblings who like to buy little gifts. (namely, me!)

Joy opened a pencil and note pad and she could have been set all day with it, well, okay, not all day... but maybe 15 minutes of it!

This little guy was seriously held ALL DAY LONG that day. :o) I didn't have the heart to put him upstairs in his bed when I knew everybody wanted to hold him. :o) Thanks to Great Granny Cote for sending that outfit ahead of time for Philip!

Mmm. Look at that fruit they got ready. :o) Haha. Okay - you can look at them instead!

There was a slight lull between breakfast and gift opening, as the turkey had to get into the oven, so .... some set about the puzzle.

:o) Right up Hope's alley... even though I don't think she found pieces that fit together on this one. :o)

Delighted little girls upon the opening of their farm animal set from us and Granny and Papa.

Need I say more - a pound of chocolate!

This was Lydia's exchange gift from Josh, and Luke was graciously holding it up so she could read the words on it. :o)

Made with love by Auntie Lyddie. Hope wore it all day - as a sash around her waist! :o)

A new skirt for me in the summer from Chloe!

Big grins from Dad, as he opens his hot purple dress shirt and tie from Mum. The plaid scarves you see in many of the pictures were gifts from Lydia, who brought them back from Scotland. 

 Drum roll please...

 We all were waiting to see Mom's response when she opened....

...her very own iPad mini, a gift from all us kids + Grandma! She was excited! And so were the rest of us, because now we can text her! :o)

Perusing a book of poetry she received.

The happiest one of the bunch.

With the cutest one of the bunch. :o)

 Hopey and Joy with a new Play Dough set up. :o) Oh yeah - the hair bands were from Great Granny Cote.

 And a Curious George activity book from Auntie Chloe. THAT was a hit!

And a Winnie the Pooh puzzle from Granny and Papa. Perfect!!!

Mind benders. Josh got one from Luke, Ave got one from Luke. :o) Kept them entertained for a bit. :o)

Papa, happy to receive some framed prints of the girls - one for his new office on the main floor (part of the reno plans) and one for Granny's sewing room!

Still working it.

Later, when it was time for games, there was no icing to be had for the Christmas bread, so these two put whipped cream on top of it instead. :o) Guess it's pretty much the same thing. :o)

Christmas dinner, enjoying the goodness of the Lord in each other.