christmas #4...

(the drive was a bit too much after so much excitement so we enlisted the help of the children)

(oliver jack found my stash of jelly beans while harper, calvary, and kyle were buying treats in the gas station...he liked the black ones the best)

(harper and merriwether opening presents together...awww)

(jacob likes to give my sons guns...or shooters as calvary calls them...as if my home was not exciting enough :) they love them...)

(the toy jet to be painted...one of calvary's favorite gifts...he painted an (almost) exact replica of the jet on the box the very next day)

we staggered in the door at 9:00 pm on christmas night and geared up for the next day's journey to north east georgia. both of the big kids crashed immediately, so i knew they were exhausted. kyle and i washed clothes and organized the last of the gifts and headed off to bed ourselves. at 6:30 am we woke and packed the car and headed to chick-fil-a for a quick breakfast. the drive was probably one of my favorites we have had in a while. the views out the window were so diverting and the kids were sweet as punch. we arrived at the dillard house and the whole place smelled like real food and a wood burning fire...nothing feels more like christmas than that. jacob's whole family invited us all to come along and i always feel so blessed to know that God has the power to reconcile even the most difficult of situations. probably one of my favorite gifts of the season is knowing that harper has one family. after one of the best meals i have had in a while (minus the fatigued outbursts of my oldest sons) we headed to another room for desserts, gifts, and quality time. poor calvary (well, maybe poor the rest of us) was just so done with all the hoopla. after a while, we started a movie for him and he just vegged out in front of the tv. we had a great time and headed out about 5:00.

the next day we promised the kids we would skip church and let them play with their gifts---sacrilege---thank you Jesus for coming to save us and sharing your birthday with us. i just thought that we could all use the time before kyle headed back for work to recuperate from all the excitement. calvary was so happy to be home and settled that he was the sweetest child i had ever met. it was at that point that i realized that my little boy is a precious, settled home body. he loves the comfort of the expected and normal. as wonderful as presents and family and friends are, he just wants to be in his living room with his mom, dad, sister, and brother and enjoy the day. i love that about him. i adore that little boy...and we finally painted that jet.