For Christmas Eve we had dinner at Sarah’s parents and breakfast at the Ahlstrom’s. Nothing too eventful just fun time with family.
Our favorite gift!
Toothless grins and babies.
Who has the real baby?
All the girls got their nails painted by Daddy. Not bad for zero practice.
These are supposed to be santa hats.
We had a great Christmas break the past few weeks. Micah took quite a bit of time off work and we all were able to get a lot done, relax and enjoy the time we had with each other. It was so nice. I am so grateful to have had all of his help as I’ve been getting back into the swing of things. He has been a great diaper changer, entertainer, errand runner, dinner maker, etc, etc, etc over the past several weeks! I’m picking up some slack now but I really have appreciated the time I’ve had to recover and get used to having a new baby in the mix. We’ve had a lot of fun throughout December with our elf, Jimmy Jingle, who would surprise us every morning with something fun (ingredients to make pancakes, blanket forts, stacked chairs, donuts, etc).
We miss Jimmy – the kids were so excited to wake up in the morning with him and now they slowly saunter out of bed again. We drove around a few times looking for Christmas lights and light shows. We tried to do random acts of kindness every day (which was pretty fun and successful) and this year we found a great garden train house to visit that was a fun Christmas bonus.
Christmas Eve took place at Mamama’s and Papa-dad’s house. When we arrived we had just missed the excitement – but could still smell the evidence. The house was set up so nicely for dinner and there were candles next to some poinsettias as the centerpieces. One of the little candles somehow caught the wrapping of the poinsettias on fire which then started the table cloth on fire. Luckily, it was caught quickly and the poinsettias and tablecloth were the only losses! We ate a DELICIOUS dinner with beef tenderloin, rolls, salad, fruit, etc. There were crackers and dip and cookies, and a delicious mint ice cream dessert. After eating and playing for a little bit we had our Christmas nativity. I love seeing all the little ones dressed up and its so fun to listen to all the little voices singing along. We came home and opened pajamas and then got the kids in bed.
Getting ready for the nativity.
Rachelle hung out with Robyn during the Nativity.
Lacey and Jackson.
Santa brought a trampoline for the family and Jimmy Jingle left a doll house he had built for the family. Both gifts are enjoyed very much! Autumn got a little musical toy for the car, Chelle got a cute baby doll, Lacey got walkie talkies, Jackson got “guess who” and a little submarine. Each got some clothes. I think everyone came away happy. That morning we ate breakfast, opened gifts from Santa, and then got dressed and Micah and the three oldest went to church. Then when they came home there were a few presents under the tree for them to open from cousins and we finally showed them the trampoline.
Our converted bookshelf.
We’ve talked over and over about baby Jesus with Jackson, Lacey and Rachelle and it was a neat feeling to have a new baby during this time. I’ve been able to reflect a little on how Mary must have felt. I have a lot of questions for her… I want to know what she was thinking about and what kind of a baby little Jesus was! I can’t imagine how it felt to have a baby in a manger in those circumstances. Wow – she was amazing. I’m so grateful for her, and especially for Jesus, who has given us a path to follow and has done so much for us. The more I read and think about Him, the more I know that its true. It really was a fun and exhausting Christmas for all of us.
What a great time of year – I can’t believe it came and went so fast! We definitely enjoyed 2 long weekends in a row – its nice to have Dad around all day!
To start off the Christmas season, at Thanksgiving with Micah’s family we received some Christmas decorations from the Tripps and I was so anxious to put them up – Jackson loved the nativity block and advent calendar filled with candy. Then, the night we got home we were surprised with a gift on our doorstep from the Andersons. It was a beautiful manger that was filled with straw and a sweet book to go with it.
These decorations prompted many, many questions from Jackson and I felt the Spirit while we were given many, many more opportunities to talk about and testify of Jesus’ birth to him and Lacey. They definitely helped me to remember the true meaning of Christmas this year.
The Monday before Christmas we had a great little family home evening with most of the Coons family.
On Christmas Eve we had the Stubblefields’ traditional Chinese food for dinner and then went to the Woods for the nativity re-enactment and delicious cookie decorating with part of the Coons family.
Christmas morning was so fun. Jackson didn’t wake up until about 8:15. Lacey woke up at 6:30 but had no idea what was waiting in the other room. There were great surprises for all of us!
Then we packed up and went to Mama-great’s for breakfast and headed out to the cabin to play in the SNOW! Jackson and Micah stayed out all day Saturday and sledded and played until after dark! Lacey liked the snow, but I should have gotten her some better mittens – then she would have loved it too!
On New year’s eve we played games with any family that was still in town – we had a lot of fun! Then New Year’s Day Micah got the bikes loaded up, made a picnic, and drove us to a great park! We loved it and had a great time! Sunday was Jackson’s first day in Sunbeams. He was a little nervous to leave nursery, but after the first 10 minutes, he warmed up to primary and he told me they had some great snacks in his class:o). I guess we’ll see how it goes next week!
I thought doing a Christmas card would be a good idea this year… little did I know, the store we ordered from had other things in mind for us this year! After many, many attempts to make it happen, we came out with just enough to send a hard copy to some family, so I’ve decided to post our well wishes to the blog! Oh well – We still hope you have a Merry Christmas, and know we were thinking of you as we tried to print and send out cards!
