We have had a lovely Christmas. The kids counted down by the day and by the hour. I think they were afraid it would never come. Baylie kept reminding us of all our family traditions and replaying what would happen to make sure we wouldn't forget.
Fortunately, I like to get all the Christmas shopping done early so I can just enjoy the month of December. I usually aim for Halloween. I was a little late this year, but I was finished before I had knee surgery, which was nice.
We were richly blessed by the unselfishness of others who shared with us and allowed us to not only buy extras, but also do fun things like go to movies, which we normally can't afford. (Plus we discovered that if you're in a wheelchair, your companion gets in for free!)
One of the funnest things this year was that we finally had all of our decorations out of storage. It had been nine years since we'd seen them. To be honest, once it was all up, it didn't look like as much as I remembered, but it brought back so many memories to have everything.
The first fancy date David and I went on was to the Nutcracker ballet. Later David wrote me a poem about that night and then he added to it and put it to music to propose to me. Over the years, we have bought each other nutcrackers for Christmas and David has drawn me pictures of nutcrackers and written more poems. This year we were able to get out all of our nutcrackers (13 nutcrackers representing 13 Christmases of marriage, not including the small ones that are ornaments or the pictures/poems).
Here's the one I got David this year. It's a cutie.
We've had our Christmas stockings with us, but this is the first time since Texas we've had a mantle to hang them from. We didn't have any of the other decorations, which include a Native American nativity painted by David's mom and a Little Drummer Boy painted by me when I was a young girl. My mom also took me to Costco while she was here and got me a wreath. When David and I first bought an artificial tree, we started buying a live wreath each year so we'd still have the smell of fresh pine, but it's been years since we've had one. I love it.
I have really missed this Precious Moments nativity. Each year for the past several years, my mom would give each of her children a piece to this nativity. Over the years, it has grown quite extensive. It was so fun to have the whole thing again this year.
We actually bought this tree here in South Carolina the first year we were in a house instead of an apartment. (My mom got it for us as well. It seems like most of our decorations are from her!) We decided to leave our original tree in Utah. It was one that had to have every branch placed one by one. It was pretty, but a real pain. We were able to get all of our decorations out of storage and that was wonderful. Most of our ornaments are wooden or are from our travels. I loved having all of these familiar ornaments again. We put the Texas tree skirt and the train around this tree.
We found this tree in the attic so we decided to use it as well. We put the tree skirt my sister-in-law made us that had been in storage and all the presents around this tree.
One of our favorite Christmas activities is a Christmas countdown we got from my sister-in-law a few years ago. There is an activity for the 24 days before Christmas. I save some of the kids' Halloween candy and put it in the countdown as well so everyone gets a treat each day of the 24 days. The activities include things like caroling, going to Lights On at the Zoo, acting out the Nativity, telling stories, taking a picture in front of the tree, and performing secret acts of service. The kids love these daily activities (and the candy).
One of the activities is to build a snowman. We did our best!
Our elf, Kristle Kringle, was up to her old high jinks this year.
She even kept the tooth fairy from giving Jalen his money the first night. The tooth fairy had to tie her up with dental floss and leave Jalen a note, explaining what happened.
As always, we had fun at Lights On. The pictures didn't turn out great and I was in a wheelchair, but it was a good time.
Our favorite part is always the s'mores.
Jalen lost his tooth biting into his s'more. (He lost another one two days later biting into a piece of pizza.)
This is as close as we got to snow this year.
This is always one of our favorite activities.
We made sugar cookies. The kids got a little carried away with the frosting.
We had Christmas Eve dinner with just the four of us. It was fun to have our Christmas dishes again.
We had a small turkey.
And in true Southern style, we made mac n' cheese.
And green bean casserole.
The table is set!
Ready to eat!
Pretty faces.
The kids look good in this one, but I look haggard. It was hard on my leg to cook everything.
After dinner, we acted out the Nativity - which is challenging with only two children. Baylie was Mary, as always, and rode the donkey into Bethlehem.
This year, Jalen wanted to be the Little Drummer Boy.
Then they changed roles and Baylie was the angel while Jalen was a shepherd, yelling, "Duck and cover!"
Afterwards, the kids opened their Christmas Eve present, which is always jammies.
They were dying to light a fire so we turned on the AC and lit it up.
Jalen (our little pyromaniac) was super excited.
Baylie wrote Santa a note - actually she made him a little book - and got the milk and cookies ready.
Santa laid some gifts out for the kids. His presents don't get wrapped.
Baylie woke up at 4-something, but waited until 5 to wake the rest of us up.
The stockings were filled with candy.
Jalen loved opening presents. He didn't get what he wanted - an X-Box. We let him know he wouldn't be getting it because we don't want video games in our house, but I think he still held out hope.
But he was happy with all his Legos and Star Wars toys.
The kids have a little holiday shop at school where they can buy gifts for very little money. I love this picture because Jalen got something for Baylie that she really wanted (a coloring book) and I love how happy they both are about it.
Crazy boy.
He was so happy about one of his presents that he did a booty shake.
The kids got their signed pictures of the USC women's soccer team framed.
Baylie has never really wanted something super badly for Christmas, but this year she did. She wanted a watch that would keep track of her steps (think Fitbit only cheaper on Groupon). We saved the present until last so she would think she wasn't getting one. She never complained or mentioned it. It was so fun to watch her get excited.
My mom gave us all Stance socks and I am in LOVE with them! Ever since my surgery, my calves have been achy and painful. Ever since I put these socks on, I've had zero pain. I don't want to take them off. They are awesome!
I got David a BB-8, mainly because I wanted one. It's so cute!!
David got me a stoneware pot. I've wanted one for a while and now I need to find some recipes to try it out.
The aftermath.
Since Christmas was on a Sunday, we went to church. We had a combined meeting with the other units that meet in our building. David sang a beautiful solo of "I Heard the Bells." It was very fitting to celebrate Christ's birth by partaking of the sacrament and remembering his sacrifice.
It was a nice, relaxing day. Today, we - well I - watched football and we all ate chips, crackers and dip. I always miss my family during bowl season.
Our big gift for the kids was a karaoke machine. Are we crazy??!!
Happy Holidays!
