Christmas Events

Well, now that Christmas is over and New Years is here I thought I'd get around to posting some pictures! We had such a great Christmas this year, very relaxing and lazy. We were home for the first time in a while and just had some good friends (Mark and Katie) over for brunch and dinner. Here's a picture of all the boys together on the couch!

The kids were so excited for Christmas morning! We've decided that we probably could've waited until Jack was 5 to start giving him gifts for Christmas...it really was the first year that he was up to speed on why we celebrate Christmas and what it means to give gifts. We had fun reading the Christmas story and talking about the reason Jesus came to earth as a baby. We left cookies out for Santa with egg nog and they were gone in the morning. He was a little unsure about how Santa could fit down our stove pipe and when we mentioned that we'd probably have to turn the fire down he stared at the stove with a look of concern on his face. When he asked me if Santa is real I told him about St. Nicholas and then he told me he thinks that Santa is just an actor. So, I think he's kind of at a point where he believes that there is an actor dressed as Santa that comes down our chimney and brings a few gifts. He did ask if we could have a 'family sneak up' in the middle of the night so we could all spy on Santa and see him in person. I thought that was pretty cute.

Otherwise, we have finally nailed down a few traditions I think. We decided that taco soup is a great Christmas Eve dinner that we want to continue. We also decided that each year we'll buy a new game for the family and open it Christmas Eve so that we can play it together that night. This year we got Jenga. Mark's favorite is the prime rib for Christmas dinner! Although we were shocked at the price of that big hunk of meat. It will have to start becoming a party of our Christmas budget if it's really a tradition, yikes!! But, it was pretty tasty and the leftovers made great fajitas.

Oh, I also attempted some family pictures. It was a pretty ridiculous experience and I'm sure it will continue to be for the next few years. But, at least we have a photo to look back on. Jasper looks like he was crying but he was really singing Christmas carols the whole time while Noah picked his nose and Jack scoffed at my pathetic attempts to make them all smile and look at me. The Christmas spirit was amazing. All in all, it was one of our best Christmas holidays!

Oh, and Jasper was thrilled to wear his Christmas outfit from Grandma Mary (Mary Bowman), so cute!!