Christmas Traditions

To contact us Click HERE
This Christmas was largely about fulfilling our Christmas traditions as Brittany and Matt were joining us.  They are carefully combining their family traditions and deciding which ones to carry forward.  It was so fun to share everything with them!
Brittany joined us in our day of baking Christmas goodies for our friends and neighbors.  We stuck with our favorites this year: Chocolate Pretzel Bites, Spritz Cookies and Sweet Chex Mix.

Graham cracker houses are at the top of the list of favorite traditions.  We invited Jonathan's friend Carly to join us this year.  Jonathan was especially happy and cooperative this year - hmmm.


Christmas street.  This has also become a tradition as we go to the same neighborhood each year and drive through the beautiful displays of lights.  This year we went 2 days before Christmas and the neighborhood was very busy.  We were surprised by an actual live animal display outside of this home . . .

A BABY CAMEL!!
Sleeping under the Christmas tree before Christmas has become an important tradition.  We didn't expect Matt and Brittany to join us, but they wanted FULL exposure to every tradition.  I tried to lay down with them, but my aching bones didn't last very long.  Oh to be young!
Christmas Eve began with carolling to the nursing home where I work and the nursing home where Pearl lives.  It brings such happiness to the residents and is a meaningful gift we can share.  Pearl was so happy to have us visit and I think she liked the new sunglasses we gave her. 


After carolling, we came home to a yummy Christmas Eve dinner.  I LOVE getting out my Christmas dishes and setting a beautiful table. 
And tradition dictates that we have cranberry chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cream corn.  YUM!
After dinner, we gathered in the family room to watch Mr. Kruegers Christmas.  Then we read the nativity from the Bible while re-enacting it with our nativity set.  We then opened our stocking for Jesus and recorded our gifts we want to give him this year and stuffed them into the stocking.  Before going to bed, we checked in with Nasa's NORAD website to see how close Santa was.  Then it was off to bed for the kids and a little egg nog for the parents.  This year was a little noisy upstairs while Matt was wrestling the boys and I think that I actually made it to bed before the kids got to sleep, although I did leave a little more wrapping for Brett to finish off.
Traditionally, all the kids sleep in the same room upstairs, so that no one accidentally interrupts Santa.  Matt and Brittany at least got a bed this time.  Poor Matt had an allergy attack after wrestling with the boys among all the cat hair.  What a good sport he is!
 Christmas morning arrived with loads of presents under the tree.  Brittany and Matt were such a nice addition to the morning(plus they added to the number of presents under the tree).  This year the kids all drew names and bought gifts for each other.  Everyone really put thought and effort into what they gave each other.  Some special homemade ones came from Brittany and Matt.  Brittany gave Brett a bowl she painted and Matt gave Caleb a bowl he painted.  It was so nice to see the kids transitioning into the spirit of giving instead of receiving.







And of course Motor cannot be left out of the gift giving.  He got some yummy cat treats and a toy mouse filled with cat nip.  He liked it!


 We bought Brittany her own Aebleskiver pan so she could carry on the tradition of Christmas morning Aebleskivers.  It was so much fun working with her in the kitchen and teaching her the finer points of getting them just right.

























Hannah got "Just Dance 4" for the Xbox.  We had fun trying out our dance moves. The girls are so good.  They make me feel old and slow!

We had such a Happy Christmas!  Everything was complete with a wonderful new son-in-law to add to the fun.  I was sad to see it come to an end, but mostly just grateful for such a perfect holiday!