Christmas 2014

Christmas this year was a little unique since we weren't going back to Utah or having any family visiting us this time.  I was excited about the fact that I didn't have to rush off anywhere though. 

Christmas Eve Steve got off early and we got ready for that evening.  We had an appetizer dinner, helped to make cookies for Santa, and then had a sweet program Stephen had prepared to tell the Nativity story to our children.  Unfortunately, our children were not in the greatest of states to sit reverently and participate in the story of Christ's birth.  With multiple meltdowns and a few time outs - we made it through.  That's how it goes with little ones though right?  We still did it, and I still loved how much Stephen had done to make our devotional meaningful.  Christmas Eve is his favorite part of the season.  I love how much he loves it. :)  After bathing our kids and throwing them in their Christmas jammies and into their beds, we settled in and got ready for Christmas. :) 

Discussing the sign that Jesus was born

Paying somewhat attention...

We at least had one child with us during the Christmas story.

This is Ross putting on his shepherd costume by himself...he didn't want any help.

Ruby wanted to put her own on as well.

 
Steve and I were more excited to give our kids Christmas than any of the last few years.  Ross was SO excited.  We had a Santa countdown block that we would move every day getting Santa closer and closer to the chimney - Ross kept trying to skip days hoping Santa would get here faster.  We did our advent calendars and Christmas chains diligently, and the day finally came - though Ross of course forgot when he woke up - but was immediately with it and excited once it dawned on him when he got downstairs.  This video may be my favorite thus far of Christmas. :)

Luckily, we all slept till about 8 and started Christmas by about 8:30 that morning.  The kids were thrilled with their presents (we'll have to work on Ross being more thrilled about his bike) and loved everything they got.  It was quite the Christmas (I did go crazy on Black Friday deals this year).  We skyped with both of our families and opened each other's presents then and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

This man works hard, plays hard, and knows how to rock Christmas Jammies all at the same time. :)

Ross and Ruby got a play kitchen with play food, bikes, some games, clothes, blocks, and books.  Ross had wished for a helicopter, a police car, or a firetruck from Santa and got the helicopter.  Ruby got the play food she wished for too. :)  
 

Crazy haired Ruby on Christmas!

So excited!

Ruby was EXTREMELY excited about her bike. :)

Have I mentioned it's extremely dry here in Colorado?  Steve's umpteenth bloody nose - Merry Christmas.

There are a few things I find hilarious in this picture. :)  See if you can tell. :)

Apparently the scanner for a register is also a phone. :)

I could NOT get Ruby to look at me for the life of me!

Ruby polished off the cookie and a half that Santa left behind.  She's helpful that way. :)

Ross helping me open my present. :)

Ruby wanting shoes on of course - though the cushy slippers threw her through a loop - she'll warm up to them eventually. :)

Stephen, in his old age, had wished for a paper shredder - and looked like he was 5 again realizing Santa had made his wish come true when he opened it. :)  He also got a board game, some movies, tums (like I said - old man), his pellet gun to take out the birds in the back, and a family calendar for desk at work.  
 

This happy, HAPPY man holding his paper shredder. :)

Ross chose a Lightning McQueen to give to Daddy (no hidden agenda there huh?)  On the way home from the store and the rest of the day, Ross and I talked about how we CAN'T tell Daddy because it's a surprise for Christmas.  It seemed to sink in.  Stephen told me later of a conversation he had with Ross.  

Ross saw a box that he wanted to wrap Steve's present in which prompted him to say, "Daddy that's the box for your present!  It's for Lightning McQueen - you can't know about it, because it's a surprise - so don't look okay?" Steve agreed, and Ross, feeling like he in no way let the cat out of the bag, went back to playing with his toys.  This happened a few other times. :)  

On Christmas morning, the sweetest part of Ross realizing it was Christmas was that the first thing he wanted to do was have Daddy open his present (which he had strategically hid in the closet).  It was fun watching him open it as well. :)

Stephen got me a fabulous magnet board that I've always wanted, a sweet SLR camera cleaning kit, a high tech thermometer I've been eyeing forever (I hate our cheapy one that takes a full minute to work), and a beautiful scarf.

We got some great clothes, shoes, games, jewelry (for me), and fun stuff from my parents.  Ross was excited to play with the train yard from my parents too - and Ruby loved the play food they sent as well.
   
Then we played with some toys and got ready for the missionaries to come over for dinner and to call their families.  We had both the Elders and Sisters come so we were quite the party.  We made a turkey dinner - LOVE left over turkey - and played games while the missionaries took turns skyping with their families.  It was fun hosting them and we were glad to spend the day with a full house.  

That night after getting our kids in bed, Steve and I went to watch one of the movies we got and promptly fell asleep before even the opening credits started.  :)  A very Merry Christmas indeed. :)     

Merry Christmas!

 

Gingerbread Houses and Visiting Santa

We've tried to keep up with the festivities - mostly doing them ourselves since all our new little friends seemed to catch the sickness bug and didn't want to spread it. :)

We made our Gingerbread house together for the first time.  The event went as follows:

Ross held a piece of red fondant in his hand the entire time (since I told him he couldn't eat any of it until we were done building the house and took a picture) and then gobbled it up the second we said, "Go".  He did help put on pieces of candy though.

Ruby was our scraper.  If any candy was dropped/misplaced/not guarded - it was gone.  She immediately popped it in her mouth crunching it happily...that girl is going to have cavity problems - I just know it.

Steve felt the need to use every single part of our gingerbread house kit - including squirting ALL the frosting on the house - even when it looked finished.  

I attempted some exterior design skills which were rejected by my children, and got banned to picture taking. :)

Who cares about looking at cameras when candy is on the table?

It was quite "frosty" thanks to Steve - Ross helped place most of the candy on the roof - Steve took care of the chimney.

Hurry and take the picture mom so we can eat it!

It's finished

This was supposed to be a Christmas tree, but Steve ran out of green frosting...

Time to eat!

Yum!

One of the pleasures of living in a small town is that you can only get so big of a crowd at places.  My friend, Kami, told me that Santa comes to one of the banks here where they give you candy, a toy, take your picture and give it to you for free, AND there are no lines.  This is incredible compared to visiting the City Creek mall in Utah where you have to PAY a ridiculous amount, schedule well in advance, and wait forever to see Santa.

We showed up with no one else there and a VERY legitimate Santa sitting in his chair just waiting for Ross and Ruby to show up.  Ross lit up like a Christmas light immediately.  He was so excited to see Santa and talked to him THE ENTIRE TIME - telling him about any and everything he could think of.  This is quite different from last year when he was so excited he couldn't even say a word.  

He climbed right up on his knee and, even though we rehearsed over and over that you can tell Santa three things you're wishing for and he will bring ONE of them to you, he immediately listed off about 500 things he was wishing for that Christmas, and threw in there somewhere in the middle that he had been a good boy.
 

Making sure to tell Santa EVERYTHING he's thinking of - he told him all about his grandparents too. (Thank goodness there wasn't a line of kids waiting.) :)

Autographed by Santa!  I love Ross's face. :)

When it was Ruby's turn she was so happy to smile and wave at Santa, until we put her on his knee - she turned into an acrobatic gymnast at that point trying to get away as quick as she could.  We squeezed a picture in, and she was off exploring.  She kept coming back to smile and wave at Santa though - from a safe distance of course.  

You can tell how Ruby feels about this experience. :)

And she's done. :)

They both got a candy cane and a bell as well as an autographed picture from Santa - score!  VERY fun. :)

Some Christmas Fun

So after finally getting unpacked and coming back after our sneaky Thanksgiving trip, I got right on to decorating for Christmas.  Last year I was grinched in the most unfair way possible - since we moved back to Utah from Oregon about 5 days before Christmas.  I was determined to enjoy it more fully this year.

Ross and Ruby loved opening my big tubs of decorations and taking everything out while I fretted over where to put everything - I am NOT a decorator.  It takes me WAY too long to decide what goes where and how it should look.  Anyway - we put everything up and began to feel a bit more Christmas-y.  

We found out our little town does a Christmas Light Parade (just like the one in Oregon) so we showed up to Main Street and loved every second - especially since it wasn't freezing - just nippy.  Ross yelled for every car or float that came by - since we live in a farming area there were a good handful of tractors all decked out - even a bulldozer that barely fit on the road.  It was Ross's dream come true.  They threw out lots of candy, but Ross was content with two suckers, tried a peppermint stick but handed it to me after one lick.  
 

Totally excited and blinded by the flash!

Ruby really is happy I promise. :)  She loved it too - especially when one of our friends shared his hot chocolate with her. ;)

Mater even made an appearance!

Ruby is obsessed with snowmen (and boots) and died when she saw this - she always demands the songs Frosty the Snowman (which I still haven't learned all the words to) and Once There Was a Snowman.

An awesome Christmas tractor

After the half hour parade (I love short parades) we walked over to the "Enchanted Forest" where Santa was hanging out with an insanely long line, so we decided to take a free train ride instead.  This video will illustrate how smooth that went.  
 

We've made some paper chains, picked out our Christmas tree (not as fun as when we were in Oregon cutting our own, getting free s'mores and hot chocolate - we picked it up outside Walmart - the only place selling real trees that we could find - we're in the Great Plains - I understand real Christmas trees are scarce), decorated it including making our traditional shrinky dink ornaments, put up our lights, and have been playing Christmas music galore - funny how happy that can make a person. :) 
 

Ruby just can't decide which ornament should go where so she is (still) constantly pulling them off and trying to put them back on.

Ross putting the star on - the best part.

I love glowy Christmas trees - also it smells incredible!

Waiting for Shrinky Dinks to bake.

Ross and I made ours too big so they melted together when they were trying to shrink - whoops!  Ross's was an airplane and mine a prego self portrait with baby bee #3.  Ruby has a boot on hers - because she wears them constantly.  Steve's is of a windmill - they have loads of them out here!

Christmas countdown (oh and Santa Elf - as Ross called him - is watching.

So I sewed an advent calendar from a kit I bought - I was pretty impressed with how it turned out - especially with how dumb I am in the sewing department - oh - and the 1 on the 14 fell off - don't worry - I caught that. ;)

Ross and Ruby love reaching in the pockets and pulling out our instructions for the day. :)

Stockings plus our chains. :)

In their Christmas Jammies ;)

I love these faces :)

Cuties :)

 Here are some tunes brought to you by Ross and Ruby - so funny :)

Cozy Christmas moment watching The Grinch - Ross and Ruby won't stop asking me why he's so grumpy all the time - haha.

For some reason, I have felt panicky that things will not get done in time for Christmas and I won't get to enjoy any of it.  Maybe because it's coupled with me being so pregnant and tired all the time.  All our little traditions seem like they've been jam packed - but really - we're just fine.  I finally had a moment last night when Steve was out with the missionaries and I had the kids in their Christmas pajamas from Grammy Joanne, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas with just our Christmas lights on where the fun came back to me, and then most of all, remembering what this whole holiday is all about. :)  I'm so thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ - what a miracle and gift He is to us.    He is the reason for the season. :)