Christmas Festivities

Ah yes... Krista standard blog time. Several weeks late.

Christmas. Where do I begin? What an action-packed fun time of year! We were so so so busy (planning neighborhood parties, planning several church service projects, joy school, Christmas parties galore, etc etc etc). But we tried so hard to have no stress and involve the boys in everything we were doing. I think it worked out great and we created many new and fun memories and traditions together as a family!!

For Joy School, we took the kids to a nursing home and had them perform a Christmas program which included acting out a nativity scene and then singing 5 Christmas songs. I was worried that they wouldn't do it, but they did! And it was awesome!! The best part was when each of the kids gave the residents a card they had made, a treat, and a hug and kiss!! So cute!!


They also performed the same "show" for their family and friends at the Joy School Christmas party. Except it was a much more "lively" performance. :) We should have video taped the show at the nursing home instead. Oh well. Here is a funny video of them singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" that really shows each of their personalities well:

Lively, huh? :) And yes, we are currently accepting bookings for Caleb to choreograph your dances. But act fast--slots are filling up fast!!

We kept up the fun tradition of giving the boys a few fun little things at the beginning of the holiday season--including the matching pjs.

One morning the boys woke up to a clue outside their bedrooms. It sent them on a fun scavenger hunt to find their surprises. Caleb is now hooked on scavenger hunts!!!!

Christmas morning, Carson was hooked on the train table that Santa brought. Once he saw that, he wanted nothing more to do with all those presents. He eventually thought it was fun to rip the paper off the presents, but it took some convincing at first!

Meanwhile, Caleb loved to pull out the presents, read the name, and get it to the correct person.

Caleb loved the train table, but also loved his new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa and matching stuffed Buzz Lightyear!

It now takes some convincing to get him dressed every day. He would prefer to just be Buzz or Woody both day and night.

Santa is kind of tricky. He knows how much Caleb loves treasure hunts now, so he wrapped two clues and set them to the side. When we thought all the presents had been opened, we discovered another gift. It was to Caleb and inside was clue #1. It sent him all over the house to find clues and eventually led him to a room upstairs where he found...

...his and his violins!!! Caleb and Chris have started taking violin lessons together once a week. It is a great time for them to just be together and learn something new.

But wait! Santa made reference to one more gift somewhere. We went on a hunt for one more gift and finally found it. And what do you know?!? Santa left another clue! That Santa is so awesome. :) So after another treasure hunt that led all over the house again, Caleb finally found a wrapped gift in the garage...a bike helmet! But why would Santa bring a bike helmet, but no bike?!? Caleb then discovered his prized possession nearby...

Caleb saw that Lightning McQueen bike last Christmas in the stores and has been begging for it since then! Since he has received it, he has been in h.e.a.v.e.n. It's a little big for him, but he does great with it! He can now be seen zooming around the neighborhood going "lightning mcqueen fast!"

And Carson joins in riding around town driving like a crazy man in his sweet car:




And since Caleb got a new bike, Carson has taken over the older smaller one:

Crazy little stunt man. But I'm off subject. The bike and the little car do not have anything to do with Christmas, do they?!?

Let's see...other than that, we enjoyed lots of Seaworld!









Oh! And our Christmas cards this year were awesome!!! Here is a sample of my amazing work:




What?!? You don't see that picture? Yup. No Christmas cards. They were on my to do list since early November. At some point (after Christmas!) I had to just come to terms with the fact that it just wasn't going to happen this year. Sigh. Maybe next year.

And that's about it for now! We once again missed being with our families, but we really did have a good time just being together and starting traditions in our little family. What a wonderful time of year! We hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas!