Christmas Eve and Christmas day

When Mark and I decided to just stay in our home for Christmas a few years ago, I will admit I was a little nervous.  Would it be fun?  Could I be the mom for all the activities and meals and make everything magical?  Would it feel like a break from the routine if Mark still works most of the Christmas school break?  All the answers have been YES!

I love having my little family, our traditions and enjoying the peace and quiet of not traveling.  Sure we miss being around lots and lots of family and there may be some years we decide to make the trek to Idaho or Washington but until then, I thoroughly enjoyed this year and look forward to many more.

Another added bonus this year was celebrating a baby's first.  Having ACE old enough to get excited but still have it be her first Christmas was so fun.  The boys loved showing her things and trying to keep her from destroying all the decorations.

Wearing her "First Christmas" shirt on Christmas Eve and looking pretty happy about it all

On the 23rd I got together with two of my sisters and families who also live in Utah.  We unwrapped our sibling gifts and ate lots of good food and watched a movie.  I only took my two littles as Shortstop was super sick and had a 24 hour puking flu.  It was heartbreaking.  He slept for probably 20 out of the 24 hours.  But no one else got it, somehow, and he bounced back on Christmas Eve so Mark stayed home with him.

He is so sweet all the time but especially when he is sick.  He would randomly wake up and say "Mom, thank you for taking care of me.  Can I do anything for you?"  Then he would fall back asleep.  Or he would give me his stuffed animal to cuddle with or come sit on my lap and lay on my shoulder for a few minutes.  

My sister Melanie had me this year and gave me the most thoughtful, comfortable, adorable blanket.

We finished our nighttime bedtime routine on Christmas Eve which included adding the baby Jesus to the manger where we had been adding hay from acts of service all month long to make it nice and soft.

I truly miss the bedtime routine come December 26.  We still read to them and have family prayer and scripture study but there is a different feel about it.  The boys LOVED it and although it took a half hour, it is a half hour I cherish.  It made us truly slow down before bedtime and be together as a family while focusing on what is important.  After we finish that we unwrapped pjs from Nana and attempted a picture...this little girl will not sit still.

Then we put out cookies and carrots and milk and Shortstop writes a letter to Santa and usually asks a question.  This year he went back and forth on whether or not Santa is real.  I have always tried to not emphasize Santa a ton and say things like "Santa is part of the fun and magic of Christmas".  He knows the truth about most other fictional characters but I was not ready to out and out tell him this year.  If he asks, I will tell him.  But you could tell he wants to believe still. 

This year we also started our Christmas Eve dinner tradition.  Last year we were at my sister's and the year before we had the flu so it was time to finally do our own thing and we chose fondue.  It was a HIT!  We had so much fun laughing and visiting and trying weird concoctions.  Okay, mostly the boys tried the gross stuff (Rice krispie treats in the cheese, etc...)  But it was a keeper tradition and I can't wait to do it again next year.

Waking up to a White Christmas was so fun again this year.  And having Christmas on Sunday was beautiful.  I kind of wish Christmas was always on Sunday, like the 4th Sunday of December.  We have 9:00 am church so we had the front room wrapped where all the gifts were and we enjoyed cinnamon rolls before church.  It was only a 45 minute sacrament meeting but it started the day off perfectly!  We we came home we got back in pjs, popped in the breakfast casserole to cook while we unwrapped gifts and let the kids "open" the room.  They were so excited to to see everything and ACE loved tearing at all the paper.  She was so cute just crawling from thing to thing and somewhat opening her gifts but mainly just laughing.  Once her kids were gone (we didn't do much cause she doesn't care) she rubbed her eyes and we put her down for a nap.  The boys finished up gifts and they loved everything they got.  Watching their excitement and hearing their appreciation makes it all worth it!  We enjoyed brunch, played with new games and toys, had a late lunch, took some naps, had potato soup for dinner and then watched Finding Dory, one of our family Christmas gifts.

Trying to get a peek...although he said he was just trying to help the elves get in the room more

Good morning on your first Christmas!

Breakfast

So sweet in her Christmas dress

The kids

The girls

The boys

Learning all about "the reveal"...she didn't quite get the concept right away...

...But her brothers helped her out

"Wait...I get to eat this candy?"

So sweet!  I can't get enough of her face

At one point we tried to bribe her with candy on top of her present to open it...that didn't really work but it was adorable

This was his favorite present by far.  He is a huge Harry Potter fan and has wanted to learn chess for a while

Anything soft and cuddly is a hit with this guy

Got straight to it after lunch- he is picking it up super well!

Nothing like an indoor picnic on Christmas

Dress up time!  This was one of Fullback's gifts and they thought it was awesome to have dress ups of their own!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Although I get sad when Christmas ends, I look forward to a new year and new traditions and many more memories with my incredible family.  I feel so blessed and am grateful for our Savior for the gift He gave when he offered himself a sacrifice.  I am indescribably thankful that I get to live with my family forever because of Him.  Life is good.  Can't wait to see what next year brings! 

Winter fun

Oh how I love the days and weeks leading up to Christmas...it is right up there with Christmas morning for me.  The feelings in the air, the music and all the fun activities that keep us busy as a family.

Our nightly Christmas routine is still a treasured and sacred time for me.  We don't miss it very many nights but when we do, I am so sad.  We always catch up but the boys like it as much as Mark and me.  ACE likes to be in the middle of the living room keeping us company but I am glad she will grow up never remembering a time without our story, video about the Savior, recap of service to add hay to the manger, and advent calendar.  I loved adding the #lighttheworld ideas to our discussion of how we were serving and loving others.

And having it be this one's first Christmas made everything that much more magical

We made neighbor treats early on in the month...we had a LOT of people on our list.  And for a couple of nights we made deliveries.  I love baking and being in my kitchen and the boys love handing things out to people and say hi to our neighbors so it worked out for everyone.  We felt very blessed (and full) with all the love and treats we received this year.

We decided to try a few new things this year and it did not disappoint.  One Saturday we were up in Salt Lake at a friend's daughter's baptism so we decided to head into downtown and go see the Gingerbread house at the Grand America.  It was so great to see the window displays, guess the country, then end with a cookie by the impressive Gingerbread house.

Since Mark and I are going to London in March we had to take a picture in front of this display

Another new one for us was the Christmas in Color in Provo.  Wow!  That was so fun.  ACE sat on my lap in the front seat and just loved dancing to the music and all the lights.  The boys talked about that for a while afterwards.

We were able to take part in our ward sponsoring a refugee family this Christmas.  The Young Women presidency and leaders were in charge of presenting it, gathering the gifts and delivering them.  I put together a giant box wrapped like a Christmas present with sticky notes of what was needed on it to present at the ward Christmas breakfast.  Then for the next two weeks the gifts piled in.  We chose a couple of things and it was fun going shopping as a family to get what was needed. Getting together as a presidency to check off each gift and see that we had everything was so neat.  The YW president's living room was packed to the brim with gifts.  It did my heart good.  Sadly, my kids were sick the day they delivered them so I did not get to go but all the reports back were positive and grateful.

One of Shortstop's last days of school I decided to take the two littles and go to storytime at the Orem library.  It was wonderful!  We sang songs, played games and listened to Christmas stories.  Both kids sat attentively and loved it all.  Then they handed out cookies at the end!  What a surprise and a delight for Fullback.

She is so pretty!

We had to sacrifice morning nap to do this outing but it was worth it

One night we decided to do some pre made gingerbread cookie kits and have a hot cocoa bar.  The boys loved having their own piping bag and bowl of treats to decorate.  Mark pulled out all the stops for the hot cocoa bar complete with toppings, whipped cream and four flavors of cocoa.  I decided since we were already doing crafts to get two crafts I wanted to complete out of the way.  A few years ago I made Mistletoes with my boys' feet prints and I wanted something with ACE's foot on it.  Then the thumbprint light string was too cute not to try.  I love how they turned out!

Now to figure out where to put them each Christmas!

After one say of great snowfall, the boys were begging to go out and play.  We bundled them up and decided to let ACE try out some snow. We found a way too small for her snowsuit and shoved her inside.  She loved laying in the snow and got a kick out of being outside with her brothers.  Then she tried to roll over in her skin tight outfit and got a face full of snow...that ended her first time but I would say it was a success.

And then like crazy people they wanted Otter Pops after playing in the snow!

A day or two before Christmas when Shortstop was out of school we had a full craft day.  Michael's had all their Christmas crafts on 80% off so I bought a TON and spent very little.  We painted, glued, ironed, sewed, stuck and colored ornaments and figurines all day long.  They wanted to hang them on the tree but I remembered I had a mini pre lit tree from when Mark and I were first married.  We pulled that out and let them go at it.  They loved having their own tree.  I made a star from tongue depressors and bells and put that on top.  I think we found another new tradition.  Our main tree is very kid friendly but it has hallmark ornaments galore so it is pretty full.  Having a little one for their crafts was so fun!

I mean really...I love this craft but it was a tad big for our other Christmas tree. 

Lots of nails