We Wish You A Merry Christmas

It's that time of year again...

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!

And we love it. 

We love the smell of pine trees as we pull out our Christmas decorations.

We love having a reason to bake cookies on a weekly basis.

We love buttoning up jackets to go outside and the need for a cup of hot cocoa in our hands.

We love silly hats and Santa Claus.

But most of all we love that Christmas somehow unites us as a family and brings Christ back into the center of our lives.  Unfortunately throughout the year, it's easy for us to only think of Christ at prayer time, scripture time, and on Sundays... at least that's how it is for me.  But when the month of December hits and we being reading "The Life of Our Lord" by Charles Dickens, my thoughts are constantly on the birth of our Savior.

It's a beautiful thing... Christmas time.

And I am wishing you a very Merry Christmas my darling!

Christmas Parade... Brrr!!

Making Tamales at Mimi and Papa's-- Christmas tradition!

Every couple of years, Mimi rounds up the entire family and takes us to see the Nutcracker.  This year we went to the Kimo theater to see it performed by local ballerinas.  I much prefer this version over the Russian Ballet which is kind of boring to me- sorry if that offends anyone.

We all got dressed up.  You put on your new Christmas dress and got your hair curled.  You were completely delighted to dress up, as always.

At Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house after the nutcracker.
You love Aunt Jen and Uncle Josh's pets: Snow and Charming.

On Christmas morning, we all woke up in our matching pajamas as we do every year.  We hurried downstairs to open presents.  You had a ball!!

Sophia wasn't sure what to think of this Christmas business.

Our Christmas Elf spied on us all December long and did some pretty funny stuff this year.

She made herself a skirt using my sewing maching.

And she stole a cookie too!  She apparently loves cookies!

After we opened our gifts and threw back some homemade cinnamon rolls, Mimi and Papa stopped by to deliver gifts.  It was such a pleasant surprise!

We love Christmas time!  It is so fun and FULL of family.  I'd be lying if I said that I didn't get totally stressed out at the same time.  But I love to see you light up because of such a sweet holiday.  I hope that you will always remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

I love you!

Mom

Recital Time

My little ballerina,

It's time for your first recital.

Miss Jan has prepared a rendition of the Sugar Plum Fairies from the Nutcracker for you girls to dance to.

You are completely thrilled to dress up in a purple tutu with a crown and wear makeup.

It's a real treat for you.

You're such a ham too!

Although, through half of the performance you stood there chewing on the necklace I gave you before your performance.  I got it for you to make it "special" but it ended up being a horrible distraction.  Gifts should wait until the end of the show.  Haha!

I'm so proud of you deary!

You're so beautiful and talented!

Love,

Mom

Recital Time

In the car, going to the recital

Snow Day!

Unfortunately for Daddy, since he works from home he really doesn't get snow days.

But he was able to take a long lunch on this particular day.

We headed off to Mimi and Papa's to play in the snow.  They have the best yard for making a snowman. And after all, when do we ever get enough snow to build a snowman like this?

It was a great day!  We had a snowball fight, built the snowman, ate Dion's pizza, and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.  In a way, I'm grateful that these snow days are rare.  Otherwise, I don't think we'd try to make them so special.

Love you babe,

Mom