Christmas Day

I’m so glad my kids aren’t early risers! They did start banging on the door at about 8 am-wanting to come out and see what Santa brought them. 

He came! This is the before picture.

Running down the hall to see what they got.

New, clean Hello Kitty and old, dirty Hello Kitty.Princess shoes I found at the thrift store.She wanted dinosaurs.First time he’s asked for books. He loved his scooter too!Book and alarm clock-she also got a cell phone from Santa. She was quite surprised because she wasn’t expecting it, but she loved it!Lucia’s homemade gift to mom.Lucia gave gifts to each family member, such a thoughtful girl!She already knew about the American Girl book set and doll. But she was happy.More sister loving.He wasn’t expecting Darth Vader-but he loved it!Her new picnic basket.Piggy banks!Post present happiness.

We took our time opening gifts and getting ready. We made it over to Grandma and Grandpa’s about 1 pm. Time for more gift opening.

We totally got spoiled this year!Uncle B always gives good gifts too.He wanted a loom and has spent many hours making bracelets.Grandpa-the gift master and Sylvie doing a somersault.Lucia’s final gift of the day-the big pink fluffy owl that Grandma got for her! She was so excited!See the sun shining? It was a beautiful day, the kids went outside to play for a while.Julio got to nap with Mr. Owl.

Christmas evening, we had another delicious dinner and felt like gluttons. We played games and the kids watched their new movies. It was a great Christmas! We missed spending it with our cousins, but hopefully next year they will be with us.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve as a family. We went to Fairytale Town since it was free! It was a nice change from the zoo-we hadn’t been there in a while.

The Wizard of Oz On King Arthur’s throneOn a pirate shipSliding down from Owl’s Treehouse Marco on top of Cinderella’s coachSylvie in “The Little Train that Could”

That evening, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle B came over for dinner. Julio barbequed a tri-tip and made garlic mashed potatoes. We also had brie en croissant, veggies and dip, water chestnuts with bacon, fruit salad…yummy! I did not get any pictures that night-too tired and busy getting dinner on the table. Then we went to visit Uncle Dan’s grandma at the retirement home. We visited with her and sang to her and played with her dog. Then we went home and played some games with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle B. Then, the kids opened their new jammies, we read from the Bible and the kids sprinkled their reindeer food on the lawn. It took them a long time to settle down and go to bed, so Santa couldn’t come until after midnight. But he did come! It was so exciting!!!

A Sunday in December

It’s the holiday season!

Wow, it seems like a really short Christmas season his year. Thanksgiving was later this year, and with working and all-I have less to time to prepare! I did get the advent calendars from Trader Joe’s this year, before they sold out. Yay! We have been reading scriptures or other Christmas stories, or singing carols each night before bed. The kids have been able to watch a few Christmas movies while sipping on hot chocolate. We’ve attended Christmas parties. I planned the Relief Society dinner this year and it was a big success. I didn’t get any pictures-but we had beautiful navy, silver and white decorations, a big canvas of the Nativity on the wall and sparkling white Christmas lights around the room. We had spinach salad with white beans, red bell pepper and croutons with a tomato basil vinaigrette, rolls, cranberry-orange chicken, herbed roasted red potatoes and glazed carrots for dinner.  Then we had people bring all kinds of cookies for dessert and we served hot chocolate with them. The program was beautiful-we had some amazing musical numbers and my dad did a reading. It was so nice. I’m glad it’s over though! I also got to attend a cookie exchange with ladies from church, and a surprise birthday party for a friend. It’s been a busy month. Here are some pictures of some of the things we’ve done as a family:

Decorating the tree

The Ward Christmas Party-Old Bethlehem style

They had old fashioned games for the kids. A stable backdrop for pictures-our kids didn’t want to use the costumes they had, so it’s kind of a hodgepodge of things. Tessa just wanted to sit by the baby.We ate dinner on the floor. They did the Nativity play and passed out different treats for each part of the play-chocolate coins when the Roman soldier came out, candy canes with the shepherds, white chocolate candy with the angel…An interesting shot of me.Kids all sugared up!

Riding the Train to see the Christmas lights.

Hopefully we can squeeze in a few more fun things before Christmas! So far, it’s been a great season!