Christmas Week

Our Christmas celebrating is far from being limited to just one day or just one gathering. This year, it was nicely spread out over the whole week.

Christmas #1: Church Family
It seemed very fitting to start out our week of Christmas celebrating at church, worshiping our Savior with our friends. Abby and Ben did a fabulous job in the children's Sunday School Christmas program this year. Ben did his best to sing along with every song, swaying and rocking the whole time. And most of the time he also held his sister's hand, although one time she got visibly irritated with his swaying while hand-holding which nearly knocked her off balance. It was cute. :) When it came time for just the youngest children to sing "Away in the Manger" with hand motions, Abby's voice was the only one that could be heard. Afterward, our pastor said to her jokingly, "Abby, your solo was wonderful!" :)

Every Sunday following the main service, our church has a potluck meal together. This Sunday, my dear friend Leah's little boy Lukas sat next to Abby. He saw a mandarin orange on her plate and started whining that he wanted one. I suggested to Abby that she share hers and she very happily split hers in half. This apparently impressed little Lukas, who shortly after whispered to his mama that he wanted to marry Abby some day! And I just had to take a picture to commemorate Abby's first marriage proposal of sorts! And seriously, it couldn't be from a sweeter or cuter boy! ;o)

Christmas #2 - Our Family
While the kids definitely enjoy presents, we don't overly focus on them in our house. There are no wish lists, the kids make no requests, we try to emphasize the Christ's birth is the best gift of all and the only one that really matters, no one gets up early to tear open gifts, and when we do open them we let the kids take as much time with each present as they'd like before going on to any more. So, this means that although we began open our family gifts Christmas morning we didn't finish until the end of the week! The first present was a wooden train set for all three kids and it kept them occupied until a delicious breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls was ready.

Jacob LOVES bacon!! And I mean, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES bacon! :)

Once breakfast was over, the big kids begged to go out and play in the snow before we opened anymore presents. And, yes, you read that right - we had SNOW for Christmas! So fun! It may have happened, but I seriously cannot remember a single year where we went to sleep with no snow and woke up to a white Christmas. It was so very special. And although it wasn't very deep, Abby and Ben worked away and built their very own snowman all by themselves! I can't believe how big these two are getting! Kevin grabbed a carrot out of our garden and helped them put in the eyes and arms (not pictured), but other than that Abby (and Ben some) did all the rest!

We also had fun frosting Christmas cookies we'd baked the evening before (my parents came over for breakfast too).

Extra special this year was that Abby (completely on her own and weeks ahead of time!) thoughtfully decided on a gift for each family member and picked them out herself at the store. For her Daddy, it was his favorite cookies. For mommy, a beautiful necklace that she chose. For Ben, a cars sleeping bag (she's been wanting to buy him that for MONTHS!) that turned out to be his most favorite present out of everything he received. And for Jake, Thomas the Train toothpaste. I couldn't be more pleased that at only age 5 Abby has figured out the joy of giving and is so thoughtful, kind and generous. Kevin and I both thought it was our best family celebration ever and our best Christmas morning ever. It was so relaxed, special, fun, and full of all the right stuff. :)

Christmas #3 - Marks Family
In the early afternoon, we headed over to Kevin's brother house to celebrate with the Marks family. After a traditional ham dinner (yum!), we opened gifts. One of Ben's favorites was a book titled, "Good Night Construction Site." Nearly everyone was asked to read it at least once. :)

 The rest of the afternoon and evening was filled with games, visiting and dessert. Abby and Ben played cousin Josiah's Wii Mario Kart and it was impressive that this time Abby could actually play whole levels all by herself (did I already say I can't believe how big she's getting? :).

Jake and Grandpa checking out Christmas ornaments.

As is typical, we left way later than we originally intended because we were having such a good time. And I had specially asked Kevin that morning if I should pack the kid's jammies, but we thought there was no way we'd stay that late...ha! :)

Christmas #4 - Gardner Family
The following day, my family came over to our house. We began with a brunch. I wanted to try something new this year for our meal and it was a hit! I think we have a new tradition. :) We had egg frittatas (one veggie, one bacon and cheese), hashbrown potato casserole, chicken salad croissant sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, a fruit platter and a veggie platter. Mmmm!

Before we opened presents my mom read a Christmas story book and the kids sang some of their Christmas program songs. As you can see from the picture, Ben was a bit anxious to open gifts and Jake was distracted by the soft blanket since it was his usual nap time. :)

New umbrellas for the kids!

We played many games, including three-on-a-couch like we did at Thanksgiving - it's so much fun having a larger family where we can play that sort of game. And I thought it was funny that even with my family, everyone still got sucked into some of Kevin's fishing stories and they all stood around the computer watching tuna fishing videos. If you've ever been to our house for dinner, you know what I'm talking about. :)

The kids were overjoyed that my nephew Stephen would be spending the night again (he had been up here almost the entire week at the beginning of his Christmas break and they always love it so much when he is here).

Bedtime story.

Christmas #5 - Villwock Family
Our final Christmas celebration took place on Friday in Oregon with my mom's side of the family. It was the first year my Grandma would not be able to attend as she can no longer ride in a car and cannot sit up for more than an hour or so. But instead of leaving her out, my cousin and I had the idea to have part of our celebration at the nursing home. It worked out wonderfully!

The Gardner family with my Grandma.

We met in the chapel and had a mini-Christmas program with Christmas carols, a couple piano recitals, and the children singing Away In the Manger for Grandma. And since it was a hit last year, I hosted a Christmas-themed picture bingo with prizes for all. It kept all the children occupied and let my Grandma participate too.

Away in the Manger (not all the cousins had arrived yet).

After Grandma was settled back into her room, the rest of us headed to our traditional location at my uncle's church. We enjoyed a delicious potluck meal and spent time visiting and playing games while the kids ran wild. :)

It was a lovely Christmas week filled with family, fun and remembering God's greatest gift to us...but we are enjoying the slower pace this week too. ;o)