Merry Christmas!

To say that we are boiling over with excitement here, is an understatement! Tess asks me every morning if it's Christmas yet! Porter at least understands the days of the week, and has a coutdown running. Owen, obviously, doesn't know what's going on and just loves looking at the decorations and the lights! We can't wait to see him open his gifts. He's gonna go nuts with the paper!

It's been a busy week getting ready for this next week. Baby Owen's ear infections came back, so that's been sad to see him sick again. He's on a stronger antibiotic now, so we're hoping that helps. He's such a sweet boy, even when he's not feeling well. He was in heaven on Friday night, because I let him sleep with us! I didn't get any sleep that night - I spent the whole time looking at him! I just don't want him to grow up!

Porter's pancake breakfast at school was a lot of fun. He was also able to wear his jammies to school on Friday and the whole school watched The Polar Express. He was so excited when he came home to tell me they had given him hot cocoa and cookies during the movie! He's home now until the 7th, so that will be nice.

I got my lovely goofy gift in the mail yesterday - it's a "beautiful" pink christmas wreath. As much as I "love" it, I'm giving it to Tess. She thinks it's sooooo pretty. So, now we have to hang it up in her room! She's really hoping for some girly dress up stuff from Santa, so we'll see!

We had a visit Friday night and Saturday from Kate and Keven, my friends from Seattle. It was fun to have them here. We all went bowling on Saturday and had a blast. We had a great time with the kids making cupcakes for Kate's birthday. Her birthday is Christmas eve and we didn't want her to feel like we were forgetting!

We're looking forward to seeing Fafa and Punkin on Christmas day. I think the kids are more excited to see them than to open their presents. That is just fine with me! We feel so fortunate that our children have such a close relationship with their great-grandparents.

We hope everyone enjoys their holiday festivities and traditions. We are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior and to take some extra time to talk to our children about the real meaning of Christmas. The gifts are fun, but they are not the real reason for this enjoyable time of year. We're grateful for all that Christ has done for us. We love you all and want you to know you are in our thoughts and prayers.

xoxo, The Mitchell Family