Ben and I celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple this year. Originally we were going to split the day between my family in Kingwood, West Virginia and his family in Martinsburg, PA. However, my dad got the flu so we changed our plans. We headed up to Martinsburg from my parents' house in Toano, Virginia on December 23rd to spend a few days there. Here are the pictures from our time with them! We got to see all of the grandparents, some cousins, and even Ben's sister Beth who lives in Kansas! It was a great first Christmas and one of my favorites. Probably because it was something new and different. A lot of good memories were made that day!
Christmas day started with Rusty (Ben's dad) cooking breakfast. There was bacon, fruit, cookies, and more! And of course, coffee.
I don't remember what they were watching, but they were all really engrossed in it. (This is a rare occurrence, btw.)
Luke eating his breakfast.
The Russells have a really neat record player. It was often playing Christmas music and we all loved it! (Except for that one creepy children's choir one, right Levi? We turned that one off.)
Here is the Christmas tree! It's MUCH bigger in person.
Before we opened presents, Ben read to us from Luke about the first Christmas.
Kristin (Ben's mom) had the first present from Luke.
Matthew got a firefighter kit complete with a coat and hat. He proceeded to wear parts of it the rest of the day.
We decided who opened next by putting names in a hat. Each person had one person to buy for. (Except for Ben and I who joined together to buy for Adam.) There was around 3-4 gifts per person.
Levi had the biggest gift of all (from Jared). It was a vintage guitar case for his acoustic guitar.
How can you resist that face?
Rusty got a tablet from Josh. This was a super thoughtful present. Josh bought it so that Rusty could read the Bible on it.
Ben and I had Adam and one of the gifts (and also the heaviest) we got him were clay pigeons.
Levi also got one of the smallest, if not the smallest. It's a Shark tuner. Which I'm told is the best. I don't know about these things.
Rusty got Mark a harmonica and it came with a DVD instruction.
Matthew had us and he was really good at keeping that a secret. I had no idea until it was our turn. Here we got an espresso maker. Which is awesome because we love espresso and coffee.
Luke also got Kristin bluetooth headphones. And she is not sharing them with anyone!
A lot of the boys got backpacks for the Philippines. (They are hoping to go back on the mission field soon.)
Another thing we did was play a "Minute to Win it" game. We were split into three teams and had to each slide a cookie from our forehead to our mouths. It was really hard! I believe Adam's team won.
What a wonderful face I'm making...
Ben had this crazy idea to jump in the air and try to catch the cookie in his mouth. It actually worked. Somehow.
Rusty tried the same strategy and eventually succeeded.
Matthew also got a hooded towel that was also a dinosaur.
This is a late wedding present from the Strappellos. Mrs. Strappello handmade the basket and gave us camp mugs (which is a tradition for all past camp counselors who get married).
Matthew really wanted a dollhouse. There was an old one in the attic and some of the boys cleaned it and surprised Matthew with it. He was very excited.
Inside the box are furniture and things to go with the dollhouse.
We all got around the dinner table and had a very scrumptious Christmas dinner together.
Matthew wanted to make a birthday cake for Jesus. Rusty made the cutout upon Matthew's insisting.
We played poker a few times. I was pretty good. Mostly because the Russell boys have NO poker face lol.
We also played BlackJack with Deba (Kristin's mom).
Jared got Settlers of Catan for Christmas. Which is SUPER addicting.
Ben and I really enjoyed our first Christmas together. Here's to many more!
Merry Christmas everyone!
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