Christmastime

This Christmas will be remembered as one in which we: enjoyed a white Christmas in Colorado (which is less common than one might think, as only approximately 1/3 of Christmases in the Denver metro area in the past century have been white); were watched over and blessed by a number of angelic secret Santas who performed a variety of anonymous and extremely generous acts of service for our family; managed to keep the tree and ornaments largely intact despite a destructive toddler; shared some laughs; watched one of our own children perform a touching act of his own service; learned more about our Savior and grew to love him even more; saw Brian lose himself in and subsequently find a way to produce one of the most touching writing pieces he has ever created; enjoyed watching the children take an increasing interest in identifying all the faces in the abundance of Christmas cards that arrived in the mail; and celebrated the joy of the season.

Christmas Eve day found us playing in the snow to burn some energy and making mini snowmen-

It was just the six of us for Christmas Eve. We enjoyed a fun appetizer dinner, played some Christmas-themed Minute to Win It Games (this was SO MUCH FUN!), including throwing marshmallows into a small bucket, playing the Nutstacker (stacking bolt nuts on top of each other) and carrying marshmallows to a bowl via a spoon in the mouth, no hands), watched the children perform their own version of the nativity, with Connor as Joseph, Isabel as Mary and Lucas as the innkeeper, watched 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, read some Christmas stories, let the children open one gift, and put out cookies and milk for Santa.

It's fun to play Santa and prepare for Christmas Day after the children go to bed. I made these fun snowman poop stocking stuffers-

Christmas morning! Santa brought Isabel a fun new desk for her room, since she spends so much time writing/coloring/drawing and such; we got the desk from a friend; it had a cute shape but needed some TLC. I saw an idea on Pinterest to paint the drawers in the graduating colors from a paint card, and Isabel unknowingly selected the knobs when we were shopping one day. I love how it turned out! Connor got a great Hot Wheels race track, Lucas got a scooter and Mason got a Little People farm tractor set.

For breakfast I made Father Tim's Christmas morning casserole from my Mitford Cookbook, and my mom's cherry bread-

Our family on Christmas-

At church we enjoyed a beautiful Christmas program, then we hosted Christmas dinner with some of Brian's family. I was so busy I forgot to take pictures! We capped off dinner with an unbelievably scrumptious caramel bread pudding. That evening we relaxed and watch the Joy to the World DVD, which always fills me with joy and love.

Hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas!

Days of Christmas

Three Decembers ago I made this lovely Christmas advent, which are 25 little matchboxes decorated in Christmas papers, with each box containing a scripture to read about the Savior's life and a Christmas-related activity to do.
And much as I love the advent, it didn't produce the fairy-tale relationship I had envisioned. So the next year I dumped the advent (being pregnant with Mason and all), and last year picked it up again. So it has been a fickle relationship. I've now decided we are going to have a more open relationship. As in, I give it my best, but if once in a while we miss a day, life will go on. But I refuse to allow said advent to inflict more stress into my life. So, I have committed to being slightly non-committal. And it is TOTALLY working for me.

Some days are very simple, as in we read a Christmas book or listen to Christmas music. And I don't document every activity. And I am happy. Really, really happy. I love this newly defined relationship. So here's some of the Christmas activities we've been up to.

1. We trimmed the tree and decked the halls

2. I took the three older children to a Colorado Mormon Chorale Christmas concert. It was so lovely, and we had a really fun evening. Brian kindly agreed to stay home with Mason, because he is at that age.
3. We attended the winter carnival at the children's school. This is always a fun event, with games and prizes (including Chick Fil A gift certificates and a visit with the cow), pictures with Santa, crafts, cake walk, bake sale, popcorn and hot chocolate, and a book for every child. As you can see, Mason did NOT like Santa. Probably because he's at that age.

4. We played board games under the tree with only the light of the tree. This was a favorite Christmas activity of me and my sister when I was young; we'd spend hours playing Let's Eat Out and other games under the tree. My kids also think it's super. If you look really hard you can see this in action. Night pictures by tree light are so super tricky!

5. We watched the Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol, and then the George C. Scott version. My kids are fascinated by the latter. And get kinda spooked when the Ghost of Christmas Future shows up. Thus the snuggling for safety and comfort.

6. I attended a fun visiting teaching brunch, wherein we made elf "donuts" to leave out for Santa's elves (thanks Pinterest and Steph!) and this simply yet fun Christmas Tree game, invented by my friend's mom years ago that involves rolling dice to gather a felt tree and stem, and then decorating the tree with little "ornaments" and eventually the star. This has been fun, and will be a great diversion on our more than 2 1/2 weeks of break (starting on Saturday!).

7. We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional

8. We attended our ward Christmas party