Sperling Christmas

Every year we alternate whose family with which we spend Christmas day.  This year it was the Sperling family's year. We arrived in the USA December 16 and spent a couple days in Houston getting over jet-lag before heading to Wagoner on December 19.  The kids did great on the trip up to Oklahoma and we only stopped once for lunch!

Our overall plans in Wagoner were kinda messed up and put on hold due to kids being sick but we still made it all work.  Micah and his Dad were able to get in a couple rounds of golf and Micah's brother Andy was able to join them once.  We wanted more time for Jacob to play with his cousins but he enjoyed the extra time with his Grandma all to himself and I enjoyed the down time to fully recover from jet-lag. 

One of the things we had planned to do all together was to go see Santa.  Sadly, this didn't work out so we decided to take Jacob and Hailey to see Santa on our own.  We wished Kate and Evan could be there too but understood that they needed their rest to help them get well!  This was Hailey's first time to see Santa!

After Santa, we went to hang out at Andy and Jackie's and let the kids play and then nap.  This was the first time Andy's family was able to meet Hailey.  We were so excited to show off our beautiful girl!

  That evening we went to the Rhema Christmas lights at a church in Tulsa.  It ended up being a cold, misty night and our kiddos didn't last as long as I would have liked but they still enjoyed it.  Kate was so sweet taking Jacob by the hand showing him all the lights.

When everyone was together there was lots of eating, playing in the garage, cousins running around, and just generally enjoying each other's company.

Christmas Eve Andy had to work so we spent the day in Tulsa at their house so that we would have the most time together.  That evening we went to a wonderful candlelight service at their church.  Before church we took some family pictures. This turned out to be a difficult process with 2 two year olds!

After the Christmas Eve service we headed back to Wagoner to prepare for the arrival of Santa.  The kids took some pj pictures which once again proved a difficult task!  Kate put out the milk and cookies and it was time for bed. 

 Christmas morning we had fun opening presents.  Jacob still didn't quite comprehend "santa" but we kept telling him Santa had come and that he was able to open lots of presents.  Oddly, he still really isn't into the concept of gifts but he did open most of his this year.  It was difficult to get him to move on from a new toy to open another present. He also got frustrated when something he really wanted to play with took Mom and Dad too long to get out of the box!  Hailey slept blissfully through the entire event but she still got some fun gifts. Santa was good to Micah and I too!

The next day we packed everything up and headed back to Houston to spend our 2nd Christmas with my family. We had a wonderful time in Wagoner and were sad to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa!