Christmas 2016

The last two weeks have been packed with Christmas activities and playing with family.  It has been such a wonderful Christmas season and I hope the kids will have great memories of it all.

We started a new Christmas project this year, to be described in a different post.  But the short version is instead of racing to Christmas morning, I really wanted to focus more on enjoying the journey through the holiday season.  We planned a lot of Christmas activities and devotionals and it was a really meaningful experience for all of us.  I’m so incredibly grateful and happy and have very much enjoyed this season.

We adopted a Secret Santa family and got the kids as involved as we could.  They were each assigned a child and picked out an outfit and a toy plus some family games and treats.  They helped us wrap and deliver everything and had a lot of fun talking about being part of the santa magic and being secret elves. 

As a family we also did The Giving Manger described at http://www.thefamilyinternational.org/christmas/articlea823.html and the girls got really into that as well.  We drew names each week and tried to do secret acts of service.  With each service, we added a bit of straw to the manager in attempt to fill it by Christmas Eve.  Next year I want to start earlier in the month and need more of a conclusion (we sort of forgot since we left for Grammy’s before Christmas Eve). This was a great experience for me as well, I had mostly thought about how the girls could participate and wanting it to create more opportunity to love and give and argue less among the three of them.  But I drew my husband’s name the first week and it was a good challenge for me to find ways to serve him, things that aren’t part of my normal routine or duties of keeping our home.  Drawing the kids names was easier although again, I found it harder than I would have thought to find service opportunities that aren’t part of what I usually do for them.

We attended a Candlelight Christmas this year at This Is The Place Park.  We’ve wanted to attend for a few years now but thought the girls were too young or didn’t ever work it into the schedule.  But I’m so glad we did!  Originally we were to be joined by my brothers and their families and my parents but we ended up being the only ones available to go.  And then the girls spent the day skiing with daddy and had a great time.  But they were pretty worn out and it was predicted to be a very cold night.  So we debated briefly and finally decided to just go for it.  Having never been to there, parking was rather confusing and we missed the main entrance.  But once we arrived and got our tickets we headed upstairs to see Father Christmas.  We were there about 40 minutes after it opened and Father Christmas had almost no line.  He was so regal and classy looking.  The girls were enchanted and sweet and each got a short visit with him.  After that we wandered up the street of the charming town, peeking in on the pioneer dancing and Christmas traditions story telling.  I really wanted to take the kids to the live nativity and it was very well done with a path leading to the old barn.  Along the path were scriptures and displays to tell the story.  Inside the barn Mary and Joseph quietly cuddled and gazed at their very real little baby.  The air stood still, caught up in the sweetness and reverence of the moment.  It was very powerful and wonderful.  After the nativity, we visited the blacksmith shop and stayed quite awhile watching him work and asking lots of questions.  We listened to carolers and stopped in for Brigham’s donuts.  They were delicious and as we snacked, a bunch of my cousins showed up!  They were attended as an extended family outing and it was so fun to see them and catch up.  We rode the train past the saddlery and print shop (both looked fun but the girls were wearing out) and ended at the pioneer crafts were the girls made a wreath ornament out of buttons, a pioneer yo-yo and a candle.  We visited the tinsmith and the gift shop upstairs and ended up buying a candlestick holder and a little tin cup ornament to honor Laura Ingalls Wilder as we have been reading the series this year and only have one book left.  The evening was so wonderful and definitely something we will do again.

The girls had Christmas parties at school.  L’s was a North Pole Express party with hot cocoa and showing off their favorite stuffed animals.  A’s party was crafts and treats and caroling.  I went to the school to watch A in the first grade Christmas assembly.  She was so excited about it and sang several songs in Spanish and English.  E’s party had a piñata and little gift exchange.  Her preschool also did a little sing along and she was bouncing out of her chair with excitement. 

We attended L’s piano recital where she beautifully preformed Greensleeves and all the kids had so much fun singing along and especially playing the handbells that her teacher passed out for the final few songs.  After the recital we snacked on refreshments and treats and chatted with friends awhile.  A and E start piano lessons next month and were so excited to meet new friends that will be there.

And finally Christmas break begun!  We kicked it off with a little Christmas party.  Each of the girls invited two friends over and we had big pancake breakfast in pajamas and then played a few games.  Holding a paper plate on their head they followed instructions to draw a very silly snowman.  And we did the saran-wrap-candy-ball game.  And finished with the left-right present story.  And then turned them loose to watch a Barbie Christmas movie and play with toys. 

On Christmas Eve Eve we got to spend lots of time with family.  Husband’s brother had just arrived and the cousins came right over to play.  The girls built a rocket ship out of a cardboard box, played dress ups and ran around having a blast.  I finished up making treats and packing and wrapping gifts and loading the car.  We had lunch at Grandpa’s house and then headed north to Grammy and Papa’s for a fantastic family Christmas party.  One of the highlights was the cousin gift exchange.  I love watching how excited they get and how much fun they have giving each other gifts.  Then we moved upstairs around the tree for gifts from Grammy and Papa.  The kids loved their new outfits and then amidst much noise and excitement and gift wrap, they each got a toy and an activity too and were thrilled!  L and her cousin Mimi got matching outfits and even had drawn each other’s names for the cousin gift exchange!  They were over the top happy and loved being dubbed the “cousin twins”.  The kids ran off to play while the adults opened gifts and then we laid out lots of cookies and treats while we watched The Santa Clause. 

Early the next morning, husband slipped away with L and A to go skiing with Auntie Lu.  They had a great time and then eagerly came back to play more with cousins.  For our Christmas Eve we had a Bethlehem style dinner and the kids loved it!  We had salmon, flatbread, cheese, grapes, cucumbers and nuts.  Then we acted out the nativity.  With so many kids it tends to get a little crazy but the kids love it and request it every year.  This year E was an angel, A was the innkeeper and L was a wiseman.  Then the kids got to just play with cousins and their new toys until we tucked them into bed.  My family and one of my brothers with his family both spent the night at my parents.  With 6 adults and 11 children, the pile under the tree was pretty spectacular.  Baby Z was wide awake so he kept us company as we stayed up to do some last minute touches.  He rolled around under the tree giggling and jabbered and trying to get everything to his mouth.  He was especially excited about his toy hammer and drooled all over it for hours.  And big news--he was crawling!  So exciting and yet so heartbreaking.  I've tried to stall it, not wanting him to grow up so fast (and definitely not wanting him to be mobile before I put all the Christmas decorations away).  But he's just too big and too curious and more than ready to explore the world.

Early in the morning, the kids were awake and excited.  We tried to stall them awhile until all the kids could wake up on their own (it mostly worked).  And then finally there was a very loud and excited dash upstairs with that perfect moment of joy and wonder and ecstatic awe on each other their faces as they saw the tree surrounded with gifts.  They dove into the stockings, so thrilled with each discovery.  Then we moved more slowly through the gifts having each person find a present and when everyone was ready, opened them together.  The girls loved their gifts and were so happy and excited and sweet.  Each of our girls got a Barbie, a lego set, a craft and then something unique for them.  Plus they gave each other gifts (mostly barbies and legos) and Daddy made jewelry for each of them with Hawaiian black coral beads.  Breakfast was now brunch, the adults lingered but the kids raced through it to go play.  It was such a wonderful Christmas morning.  We lounged around until our Christmas dinner of ham and rolls and other traditional dishes. We got to facetime with my sister in Florida and watch her open the gifts from us. And then we loaded our little family up to join the other side of the family at the aunties house for a second Christmas dinner.  It was a perfect Christmas with lots of family and excitement, happy kids and thoughtful gifts.  I’m so grateful for our amazing family!

The day after Christmas was a mostly lazy day at home.  The girls put together their new legos and watched movies and lounged around with Auntie Lu.  It was a great day off to recover before launching into more festivities.  Husband was able to finish Z’s Christmas present and it was a big hit with all the kids—a busy board!  It’s covered in locks and switches and knobs and other things to fiddle with.

Tuesday was the start of our second Christmas with husband’s side of the family.  I picked up my two sister-in-laws to go shopping in the morning.  We had so much fun, we don’t get to spend a lot of time together without the busy kids and had a great time.  And then we met all the men for a long lunch meeting with the lawyers and accountant to review the companies.

The next day we loaded up and went to Grandpa’s house, planning to stay for a few days.  We arrived just after lunch and settled in.  The girls ran off to play with cousins, playing a board game called Mustache Smash and disappearing into the dress ups and playing spy games on the adults.  We had our Christmas Eve dinner and visited the cemetery to sing Christmas carols around Grandma’s headstone and light the luminaries again.  Back at Grandpa’s house we continued with the Christmas Eve traditions watching Muppets Christmas Carol and once the kids were asleep, played Risk far into the night.  (much farther than I stayed up, but then again, Z has been so fussy at night I didn’t sleep much anyway.)  In the morning the girls hurried down the stairs again with all that same excitement and joyful anticipation.  We emptied out our Grandpa stockings exclaiming over all the fun goodies and tearing open the blind bags of Disney lego figures and tsum tsum characters and cat themed ornaments.  The girls received legos from their cousins and Auntie Lu knocked it out of the park choosing a book and long dangly earrings for L, a vet lego set for A and a little brother panda for E.  She eventually named him Prince and has carried both Prince and Penny everywhere ever since.  Grandpa gave each of the girls some great gifts like new coats and art supplies.  Husband had to go into work for a few hours but the rest of us spent the rest of the day playing.  Auntie Lu and Uncle Bry took the older girls ice skating and they had such a blast!  L and A both reported it was super fun and not that hard.  And for we all went out to a local favorite.  They were unbelievably slow so it wasn’t the greatest experience but the food was good and they did send up home with free dessert.  (A was so tired she fell asleep at the table!)  We cuddled up and watched Star Wars to finish off the night.

Friday morning was busy.  L had dance practice, cousins had to get packed and the girls were trying to cram in as much playing as they could.  After lunch we loaded everyone up and went to the movies to see Moana.  The theatre was sold out, luckily most our group arrived early and snagged enough seats.  Lu sat with half the kids, Husband and I kept L, E and A.  E cuddled into Daddy’s lap thoroughly enjoying the one-on-one cuddles while Z insisted I spend the entire movie either standing up rocking him or feeding him popcorn.  After the movie we ran a few errands and then met Grandma’s siblings for dinner.  We had fun catching up with extended family and Z was in a particularly great mood grinning and flirting and devouring pasta.  (We finally spent that night at home again, mostly because Z hadn’t slept well in over a week and we felt awful about his fussing keeping everyone else awake.  Back in his own bed Z slept through the night and woke up sporting two new teeth that had finally broken through.)

Saturday morning I’m afraid to report we spent most of the day cleaning.  Somehow the children survived.  We made up for it that night with a great New Years Party.  One of our best friends came over and spent the night (it helped break up their 15 hour drive home and we were so happy to see them!) plus another favorite family of friends came for dinner and to play.  We had buffalo burgers and lots of fruits, veggies and chips and dip to snack on.  The kids just ran around like crazy having a great time playing with toys and playing sardines.  We made ice cream sundaes loaded with toppings and at midnight, (we weren’t planning on staying up til midnight but somehow it happened) we did a countdown and toasted with sparkling ciders and noisy poppers off the porch.

The kids did NOT sleep in enough to justify staying up til midnight.  But L and Mae eagerly helped with breakfast and the younger kids couldn’t wait to get back to playing.  We reluctantly sent our friends back on the road and dashed to get ready for church.  The girls were excited to meet their new teachers and I was very grateful to attend Relief Society.  After dinner we picked up Auntie Lu and Grandpa and took them with us for a New Years Day dinner at the aunties house.  Z was especially charming, the kids were being cute and I simply love being there, chatting and relaxing and enjoying their company and the fantastic food.

Now with just two days left until we dive back into the busy schedule of school and classes and lessons, we spent the day being lazy.  The girls helped me clean the toy room and I made it to the gym.  We tried to go to the library (because my wonderfully nerdy children have been begging to go) but it was closed for the holiday!  Other than that, its been a long lazy day of playing and lounging.  Grandpa came over for dinner for our annual New Year’s crab dinner.  The girls love artichokes (and I love the crab) and it’s something we have done for a few years now (even if it was a day late this year). 

Tomorrow will be the last day of winter break.  If we get really ambitious, we might put away all the Christmas decorations.  But since we’ve gotten 8 inches of snow today and it’s scheduled to snow all night, maybe we will just build a giant snowman instead.