We had a gift exchange among the cousins and the adults for Christmas Eve. The kids had fun spending time searching for the perfect gifts for their cousins. And they were equally as thrilled with the gifts thoughtfully chosen for them. Perhaps one of the most entertaining gifts came from Brian who drew Mo's name (he is 14 now, so he was grouped in the adult gift exchange). Brian made Mo 2 original pieces of art. The first piece was intended to be a joke...a very lovely image of Mo riding a pink my little pony while wearing a pirate outfit and the slogan "Pony Power!" across the top. The second piece was a black and white painting of Mo mid-transformation from human to the grim reaper (he's a teen...this was very acceptable...and his mother loved it too). We were all impressed with the art but perhaps a little surprised that the Pony Power piece was actually just as loved as the real piece and we were assured that BOTH items will be hanging on his bedroom wall! Check it out below:
Of course, our family tradition of opening and wearing new Christmas Jammies was also honored this year. The girls graduated to "big kid" jammies with new micro-fiber bottoms and columbia waffle shirts on top. Cassidy's sport a cute little penguin and KK's, of course, have a monkey on them. Brogan's, although not photographed, are digger jammies. All went to bed snug and warm and anxious for the morning.
The sweetest moment of the evening came when we all gathered together before opening our jammies and presents and read from Luke 2. Uncle Ryan did the reading this year. We all listened with reverence and genuine appreciation as the story of Christ's birth was recounted in scripture. It is a story that is beautiful in it's simplicity.
We are grateful this year to be spending the holidays with the many branches of the Harmon family tree. Of course we missed our East Coast roots but memories of Christmas's past and the sweet sound of Grandpa Schroyer's voice (see post below) kept you in our hearts. We've been very blessed this year most significantly with love and family.
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