Eve Eve, Eve and Christmas day

Christmas Eve Eve was, as usual, a memorable night. 

 Filled with tradition, laughter, food and new pajamas.



 

 

This year we watched the movie, "Christmas Oranges."

And then we had our own Christmas Oranges.

On Christmas Eve we had everyone over.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner, sang carols, played games,  felt the spirit, and reenacted the nativity with a very serious and perhaps a little angry, angel.



On Christmas Eve morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.  It had snowed all night and it didn't stop all day.  It was absolutely perfect.  We haven't had a white Christmas in a long time and it was magical. 



Christmas morning we were excited.



Our first stop was downstairs for the sibling exchange where we enjoyed our fill of cheap dollar store gifts, like Trevor's beauty sleep mask.  (He actually might use it!)

Tyler's tattoos. (I hope he doesn't use his.)



And Ethan's cup/straw combo (which I know he will use),
 to name a few.

 

 

This year Kara requested a nightgown for her pj's and she wrapped all of her packages with brown paper tied up with string.  I believe she thinks she is Laura Ingalls.  I'll be really concerned when she starts calling me Ma and wants to bathe in a bucket.

More gifts, not from the dollar store. 

 Lord of the Rings piano music.



And it wouldn't be Christmas around here without a few Lego's.

 

 

 

 

  We had a wonderful Christmas.  We have been very blessed.  And we are so thankful for this season, this holiday, our family and our Savior. 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

a vintage Christmas

When I walk into Hobby Lobby at Christmas time I am amazed at all the new decorations. How do they come up with such great new things every year?  They are so sparkly and glittery and trendy, and, well, they are really cute and I want them.  I think to myself, my stuff is so old and so out of date, I should just re-do everything and catch my house up with the times. 

But I don't. 

 Because the bottom line is, so many of my Christmas decorations have a story, they have a place in my heart, and I know that I will never get rid of then to make room for the glitter.

  These decorations of mine are what, in my opinion, make my house magical at this time of year.

Here are just a few. 

 

My carolers.

 

 Their feet have fallen off and their twiggy hair is getting sparse, But they have been singing their hearts out on my bookshelf since the early years of my marriage. 

Way back when wood and tole painting were really in. 

 

 

 

  My Santa on blocks.

 

I actually made this one.  I carefully hot glued my new last name together out of baby blocks, putting a fancy twist on that one letter L.  I thought it was the cutest thing I ever made. 

Sometimes, when I pull it out, I still think that.

 

My nativity.

 

On a back alley, in a dusty little shop on the streets of Jerusalem I very carefully picked out each piece of my olive wood nativity set.  Each member had to be perfect.  I can clearly remember looking at the swirl of the wood on the back of Mary's robe.  I remember thinking that my future children would someday gently hold each piece and love them like I did. 

Their staffs have long been broken by those future children of mine, but the pieces are loved and it is consistently a highlight to set it up each year.

 

My homemade napkin holder. 

 

 Painted by a little scout.  So proudly placed on the counter that first year with big wide eyes that said, "are you going to use it mom?"

 

 

 

My trees.

 

These glass trees were our very first Christmas decorations.  It was our first Christmas together.  We were living in our tiny little apartment.  We didn't have much.  I found these trees at DI.  I think they were 25 cents each.  I brought them home, washed them up, stuffed tissue paper inside them and if you look closely I even sprinkled some gold confetti inside to really make them special. And you want to know what? 

Even without the confetti they are special. 

Always will be.

 

  

 

 

Ornaments.   

 

This one is so precious and one that makes us laugh every year.  Ethan's frame.  It is huge.  He has a big glob of food in his mouth.  The year he brought it home from nursery he hung it smack in the front of the tree.  The older kids kept moving it to the back.  The next day he would find it and move it right back to the front.  This went on day after day.  Now, there is no debate.  It is front and center every year.  That cute big glob of food for all to see.

How about the pretzel ornament?

 

 Whose idea was it to make an ornament with pretzels?  Yep, they are going on 10 years now, those pretzels.  Yummy.  I was just informed this year that the reason there are some pretzels missing from this delicious little ornament is because there happens to be a dare taking place for someone different to eat a piece of the 10 year old pretzel each year.  No one has died yet, but I guess at this rate this one's not going to be around forever. That makes me sad.

 

And we can't forget creepy gingerbread man. 

 

 Another one of Ethan's creations.  He was so proud.  He was on an art kick one year.  I think he made, like 20 little paper ornaments. 

This is the only one I kept. 

I love it. 

Oh, over the years I have added some new decorations.  I have succumbed to the new and the sparkly.  But these few decorations above will be here as long as I am, and then when I'm gone who knows. Perhaps they will all end up at DI, where some of them started,  perhaps they will grace the tables and bookshelves of some of my children.  Perhaps my grandchildren will hold each nativity piece and notice the marbling on Mary's back.  Or, maybe they will just be with me and Trev in our mansion in heaven. Our sparkly heavenly home dotted with these precious keepsakes from our earthly home. 

 I know this won't happen, but the thought makes me smile,

just like these decorations do. 

 

 

 

 

some of our fav's

After the hug fest we headed upstairs. Here are a few of our favorite gifts this year.

Ashlyn and her UNO Moo game.

Eto, or should I say Dr. Dreadfull.
And yes, we have recently eaten a zombie bug, zombie skin and a little bit of zombie barf mixed with bubbling brains. It was, um, delicious.

Alyssa with her latch-hook, a favorite of mine when I was a little girl.

Brings back memories.

Bryson and his Legos, of course.

Brandon and his precious Buccaneers shirt.

Tyler opened a foil covered chocolate fish. On the back there was a note directing him to the freezer where he found his very own bag of salmon. He was very happy.

Ms. Geography Genius and her New World Atlas.

And Ms. Geography again with the gift that meant the most to her. It only cost $2, but came straight from the heart (and from DI) from a certain boy named Silas.

It was a very Merry Christmas indeed!

hug fest

Christmas was so wonderful this year (besides the fact that our camera broke on Christmas Eve and so all of our Christmas day pictures are horrible). We loved going to church and feeling the spirit and then coming home to a house full of presents. We tried something a little different this year and had all of the kids put their presents to each other (see dollar store post) under our little "live" tree in the basement. Right after church we headed straight downstairs after changing back into our jammies.

And that's when the hug fest began.



After each gift a heartfelt hug was given. (Ash had just recieved Rapunzel hair)
It was precious.

And then the hugs started to get a little exaggerated.

A little rough.

Even a little dangerous.

But even in spite of the danger, the hugs continued.

There were many, actually most, that were sincere.

There were so many that caused squeals and smiles and laughter.

There was even a unique self hug, given by Ashlyn to Ashlyn after she opened the gift she had chosen and wrapped for herself.

But a hug is a hug and there were definitely plenty to go around on Christmas morning in our house.

HUGS!

twas the night before christmas eve

Our Christmas Eve Eve tradition.

Definitely my most favorite night of the whole year.

Our candlelight dinner with 4 bottles of sparkling cider.

Our opening of desperately needed new pajamas.
(Tyler's old ones were floods practically up to his knees he has grown so much this year.)

Our culmination of the advent scripture reading by candlelight.

Our sleepover, all together, watching movies, telling stories,

laughing and eating treats.
Our family.

That's really all there is to it.
And that's why it's my favorite.

only a dollar

Years and years ago, when Kara and Tyler were little, we started the tradition of Christmas shopping at the dollar store. It was the greatest idea ever. They held their hard earned 3 dollars in their tiny little hands and walked through the door into a store where they could pick anything they wanted for the family members on their Christmas lists. We stood back as they persued each aisle, looked carefully at the tool aisle, the toy aisle and the beauty aisle. They filled their little carts with so many treasures and then the hard process of elimination began. They would then, ever so thoughtfully, pick the perfect presents.

They felt so grown up.

They felt the world was at their fingertips.

Nothing was off limits.

It was so fun to watch.

This tradition has continued and even evolved over time as most traditions do. It has now become a very precious December date with dad. He takes each child one at a time. He doesn't say a word as he lets them independently shop to their hearts' content. He sometimes makes three trips in one night, but the one on one time is worth it- as is the look of accomplishment on their faces when they are done and proudly hand over their crumpled wad of bills at the counter. There used to be a time when there were so many dollar stores out there that each child had their own store. Now that the dollar store boom has ceased we are limited to only the Dollar Tree and the Dollar spot at Target. But even with the limited choices we rarely have a repeat.

When they get home the wrapping immediately begins. And that is almost as fun and important as the shopping. Each gift is wrapped with a lot of care and a lot of love and a whole lotta tape.



Names are printed on tags with the utmost of care.
It is very serious business.



At one point as our kids got older we proposed a change. We asked the kids if they wanted to each pick a sibling and buy them a more expensive gift at an upgraded store. The answer was unanimous: NO WAY! Dollar store shopping was a tradition and it would stay that way. My older ones have gotten really good at picking out great things from those dollar store aisles. It has kind of turned into a competition as to who can find the best stuff. And as the years have gone by I find myself throwing away fewer and fewer cheap plastic toys after Christmas.

And so we continue to Christmas shop at the Dollar Store. My kids continue to save their hard earned 9 dollars each year. They continue to enjoy December dates with dad. They continue to buy gifts for each and every member of our family. It doesn't matter that some of the gifts break within moments of being opened. It doesn't matter that the Santa whip was really a cat toy (That cat toy has become a favorite). It doesn't matter that the hand sanitizer smells like raisins. It only matters that each gift was bought with love. The time and thought put into buying and wrapping each gift matters. Thinking specifically about each member of our family and what they might enjoy, that matters. Its the art and beauty of giving that really matters.

And that's a whole lotta stuff and a whole lotta smiles and a whole lotta mattering for only...

one dollar.

salt lake city

With Trevor having so much unexpected "time off" this year, we decided we were going to enjoy it. We were going to take advantage of it and spend lots of time together. We were going to play. And play we did. One afternoon we headed up North to Salt Lake City.

Our first stop was the Grand America Hotel.

What is there to do at a hotel one might ask?

At this hotel, tons. It definitely was grand.

First we looked around the new toy store, Jou Jou.

We also just explored this fantastic 5 star hotel. My kids walked in, looked around in amazement and said, "I didn't know a place this fancy even existed in Utah!"

They had a Christmas scavenger hunt that took you around the whole hotel. One of the stops was this giant gingerbread house, made with hundreds of pounds of gingerbread and candy.

My kids wanted to move right in.

At the end of the scavenger hunt we found ourselves in this cute little candy shop where we got free sugar cookies as our reward. Sweet!

We then hopped on Trax and made our way to the Church History Museum.

We really enjoyed the Creche exhibit and the Pioneer woman who told us stories and gave us molasses cookies.

As we made our way through the lights of Temple Square, Eto lost a tooth, which was very exciting. Our last stop was the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building.

The lights, the view, that glorious temple.

It was magnificent.