Christmas 2020

Christmas 2020 was a full Christmas, despite the crazy year! We spent Christmas Eve relaxing at home and eating Chinese food for dinner (it's a tradition from my childhood because it is my brother's birthday and no restaurants were ever open except Chinese). We also watched our church's Christmas Eve service on TV, and read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. The kids and I had read this passage many times this month for our Christmas Curriculum, so they could recite a lot of it from memory!

Adam and I got the kids to bed early and stayed up late getting everything ready. Big gifts in the garage: a new bike for Ryan, a new bike for Andrew, and all my Felicity things for Jenna. (She was my American girl doll)

One last picture before we went to bed.

In the morning we began with stockings. 

All the kids love this tradition.

We went one at a time, beginning with Andrew.

The Jenna

Lucas

Ryan

Finally Daddy and I

This girl was looking extra festive with her wavy hair.

We sat down for a quick breakfast of sausage, cinnamon rolls, and fruit. And more coffee!

We opened presents for a little while before my parents arrived.

Lucas didn't receive this guitar for Christmas, but Andrew got a little ukelele, so he brought this out for Lucas to hold.

And then it was time to reveal the big presents in the garage!

(Don't worry about Lucas...he got a hoverboard!)

Andrew learned a new word: charcuterie.

Of course we headed outside to try out our new bikes/scooters.

Grandma Jan came over next and we had Christmas again!

We were gifted Omaha Steaks from Adam's brother's family, so we enjoyed some steaks and potato au gratin for dinner, as well as bacon green beans and sweet potatoes.

Then we played a fun new board game and this is my favorite picture from Christmas.

This picture is blurry, but Adam is showing his Mom my new roomba. This was my big gift from Adam, and so far I'm loving it!

The post-Christmas mess.

Saturday was spent cleaning up the house, and then yesterday Uncle Sean, Aunt Nicole, Ryan, Shayla and Callie came for a Christmas visit!

We had Christmas all over again and it was lovely.

It was an extra special day because Callie turned 1!

We took a nice afternoon walk around the neighborhood

And then we ended our day by singing Happy Birthday to Callie! My brother's birthday is Christmas Eve, Sean and Nicole's Ryan's birthday is Christmas day, and then Callie's birthday is the 27th. So much to celebrate, and we are all feeling so blessed. 

 

Thanksgiving and the Start of Christmas

The holiday season is in full swing and I feel like it's already going by too fast! For Thanksgiving this year we debated up until the last minute about what to do. We were going to just spend it at home as the 6 of us, but ended up going to my sister's house for dinner, and then home for dessert.

The adult table

The kid table

We attempted to get a good photo for Christmas cards but the lighting was bad. So here you go, a family picture of us!

That weekend we cooked our own turkey at home and it turned out delicious!

The following week we began "Christmas School". Each child got a box with matching Chistmas PJs and a Christmas activity book. I also showed them our sleigh filled with all our wrapped Christmas books. The kids have taken turns each morning selecting one to unwrap and have me read, and I'm really loving this new tradition! For our curriculum, we have added in the Christmas Unit from Gather Round, which we're really enjoying!

We also kicked off the week with a drive through a light show at a local church. It was really spectacular this year! I had a headache and wasn't feeling my best, but I still enjoyed it.

This week the big kids helped my Dad put together his childhood train that rides around their Christmas tree. What a special memory with Grandpa!

Not sure what these boys were doing....probably checking their stockings!

Part of our Christmas curriculum was to bake gingerbread cookies, so we delivered them to some of our neighbors late one night.

Yesterday we finally went out to get our Christmas tree, so Jenna and I donned our beanies!

Isn't this cute? We tried a new Christmas lot this year  and of course the lot with the cool truck cutout had the best trees. (one of these years we'll find a place to cut down a tree up here! I miss doing that in the Bay Area),