Christmas Memories

Christmas is such a fun time for making family memories.  Since we are a fair distance from most of our extended family we have come up with some of our own traditions.  We put the Christmas tree up a bit later than usual this year, but we were still able to get quite a bit done.  Every year our children get a new ornament for the tree.  This is a tradition that has been passed down from both sides of our family.  I let the kids put up all of their ornaments and the unbreakable ornaments wherever they want.  When they are done and in bed, I pull out the fragile stuff and place it as high as I can.  I think our tree turned out pretty good this year.  Jacob is getting used to decorating around the tree now and spreading things out which is nice.  Emma still clusters her things, and funny enough both Will and Wes like to line ornaments up on the tree.  When I say line them up, I mean actually putting them in a single row.  It was just so cute, they were so proud of themselves.

Another of our family traditions is gingerbread house making.  We have found that IKEA makes this awesome gingerbread house kit.  It is just the gingerbread, but it is super sturdy and tastes really good.  We like it this way too, because I like to buy all the different candies for decorating.  We built two houses in teams.  Jeremiah, Jacob, and Will made up one team and Emma, Wes, and I made up the other.  Both houses were looking great until ours collapsed under the pressure of Wes's excitement.  :)  So Jeremiah was kind enough to come over and repair what had collapsed.  He turned the other house over to Jacob and Will.  They did such a good job.  Jacob has a really knack for putting things together.

It was a great time had by all!

Something new I tried this year were place mats.  I got some watercolor paper and watercolors for the kids to design their very own Christmas place mats.  After they were dry I got out the clear contact paper and covered the mats both front and back.  They turned out great and the kids absolutely loved using them and looking at them every meal.

They Portland International Raceway closes down for the season and the lights begin.  Every year that we have been in Vancouver we have gone to see the light displays.  It's great because you don't have to drive all over to find lights and it is slow moving, which allows for the kids to be out of their belts to see everything better.  This year Darin, Christy, and Makeala were able to come with us and join us for some hot chocolate and pie too!  We had so much fun. 

Just before we started our Christmas Eve Family Home Evening our doorbell rang.  I didn't hear it because I was busy playing the piano, but the kids came running saying someone was at the door.  When we opened the door we found a big red bag instead of someone standing there.  Inside the bag were pajamas for all the kids.  Apparently, Santa noticed that I had not had time to sew any of the new fabric I had just purchased for pjs and decided to have Mrs. Claus sew some up for the kids.  It was really thoughtful of them.  The kids have had new pjs for Christmas Eve every year and this would have been the first without had it not been for Santa.  The excitement was clear as you can see in the picture below. 

After the kids changed into their pajamas, we began our FHE.  We sang songs together, I shared the Chrismas story using our little nativity set, and Jacob sang a solo, Silent Night.  He did such a great job, I was so proud of him.  It was a wonderful night and the kids were ready for bed.

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Eggnog for Santa

Santa came that night bearing lots of gifts!

An electric train table for Jacob

Playdoh Construction Zone for Wes

Thomas Train set for Will

A grown up doll for Emma

Yummy goodies for us and even for Darin who would be coming in the morning!

Our Tree Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning!

They were so excited!  The little boys wanted to come in and get us when they saw that Santa had gone, but Jacob and Emma told them to let Mommy and Daddy sleep.  It wasn't until I call them back to ask what was going on that they finally told us that Santa had come.  We spent quite a bit of time looking at their new treasures and snacking on stocking food.

After a while, Darin showed up.  Just in time for breakfast too.  We feasted on cinnamon rolls, another family tradition!  Mmmm, they were good!

Then it was on to present opening time.  Wes now understands just how this is supposed to work and decided that he needed to help everyone get that paper off the goods.  Will and Wes were excited about every present no matter who it was for.  It was so much fun just watching them!

Uncle Darin and Jacob working together to get the nano track put together.

Will got a bubble Mater and had to take it out  right away to play with it.

Yeah, for the big action construction zone!

Last but not least, the Christmas Feast.  We pulled out a rib roast and served it up with all the trimmings.  It was oh so good.

We had such a wonderful Christmas.  I am so thankful for the fun memories that we made this year, but most of all for the greatest gift that we have all been given.   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16