Holiday Season Pics

Sydney REALLY hated that hat. Or maybe she somehow knew Brigitta had a hold of her regular hat and was trying to put it on. Still, I had to get a picture because it reminded me of Better Off Dead. "Everyone's going to be wearing one of these!"

The girls were a little Nazi about our elf on the shelf, Lucy. "Why didn't Lucy fly back to the North Pole last night?" "Uhmmmm, she didn't want to report your bad behavior so you get a second chance today!" "Why didn't Lucy move?" "I think she did but the spot was so comfortable she just came back to it." "Hey! Lucy's in the same place as yesterday!" "Lucy was... tired honey. She just couldn't muster the energy to fly back to the North Pole and report to Santa."

Liesel came home from her last day of school like this. Seeing her skip off the bus with her little Rudolph nose made my heart soar. She had so much fun at her class Christmas party. She got a sweet little ornament too!

The secret to getting a lot of Christmas cards is to move every couple of years. It's worked for us! Christmas cards are my favorite part of the season. It's such a tangible reminder of the importance of love and friendship. The girls started adding all their Christmas drawings and I have to say I'm a fan!

Brent's parents picked up the stocking holders on a visit to North Pole, Alaska. I've never been completely happy with all our stockings but I saw the cable-knit ones at Pottery Barn this year and fell in love. One red and one white were the perfect finish! Brent's mother gave us the advent calendar years ago but I really like how it looked on the mantle.

Someday the living room will have more furniture, but for now the Christmas tree and train will do. Red ribbon on the pillars was my Mom's idea as was hanging our kissing ball right between them. Sadly, it's out of the photo.

My first attempt at Yorkshire pudding!

We FINALLY got the Pottery Barn reindeer dishes and napkins out of boxes! I've been wanting to use those for years. Roast, peas, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and some Martinelli's comprised our Christmas Eve feast.

With a little one trying to snatch some dessert. This picture makes me want to squeeze her chubby, chubby legs!

 This year I wanted to have a fun-filled but relaxed Christmas season, so I got the shopping out of the way before Black Friday. I figured I had a whole month to wrap presents, but one day the babies were napping and I decided to just take care of it. All month long I could just hum carols and sip wassail. Brent and I even made it to a Messiah sing-along! At church he's had a lot of people comment on his voice; I forgot how nice it is to sing with him sans little ones.

Our ward had a Christmas devotional which was part singing carols, part reading of Luke 2 and part live nativity. After dinner, we cleaned up the girls and put them in their Christmas pajamas. The devotional set the perfect tone for them and they received oh so many compliments on their pretty, white nightgowns! Instead of heading straight home, we drove by a place that had dozens upon dozens of lit up reindeer over acres of land. They strung many of them up in the trees so they looked like they were flying. There was a creek running through the property and those lighted reindeer gleaming off the water were just magical.

After reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" we put the little ones to bed. I was able to simply carry wrapped presents from their hiding spot down to under the tree. Brent and I stuffed stockings and then cuddled up to watch A Christmas Story. No last-minute wrapping or assembling anything, we were done! We even got to bed at a decent hour. It was heaven.

However, we kept forgetting about Lucy which was truly disconcerting to the girls. The advent calendar fell apart when someone (name withheld to protect the guilty) opened the whole thing and ate all the candy. I'm always on the hunt for new ideas we can transform into yearly traditions. There's always next year I guess! But for now, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!