Our Christmas celebration

This was our house Christmas morning...

Christmas Morning Breakfast

Yes, another food post! I'm very pregnant and am back in baking mode. I've been testing recipes for a special Christmas morning breakfast and have found two PERFECT recipes. The only problem, I can't decide which to make because they are both soooo yummy! The cranberry cake is definitely a bit more healthy, especially with whole wheat flour, but the raspberry rolls are so tempting...maybe we'll have to make both... What are your Christmas morning traditions?

Christmas Baking {cookies and such}

I am in full swing Christmas baking mode, neglecting all other responsibilities (such as unpacking and cleaning) and eating myself into a sugar coma. Here are some of my favorite Christmas cookies and other treats I've been making.

Ginger Crinkle Snowflake Cookies

German Christmas Markets!

Decorating for Christmas (without a mantle)

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve the boys were so excited to open their presents I thought for sure they would wake up early on Christmas morning. Joshua and Grant both fell asleep during our Christmas Eve stories and by 8am everyone was still fast asleep. I think it's the first time since we moved that Grant has slept past 6am. We had trouble communicating with Anthony, skype and the phone were intermittent, but we did get to chat for a few minutes.
The primary gift this year were lego tables. I made one for each of the boys so they could work alone or push them together for one long table. I searched out all kinds of lego tables and this style from Meet the Dubiens, was the best I found. It was so easy to make and I think they turned out really well. Ethan was the first upstairs, and in dramatic fashion he yelled "LEGO TABLES!" then fell to the ground. Needless to say, they were a big hit. They played all day and all night, I could barely get them off to bed.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Enjoy your family time, I'll be back after the new year!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple

We took a quick trip to Arizona for the weekend. I got to spend time with my good friend from New Hampshire. She's like a sister to me and the last time we saw each other I was expecting Joshua. The boys loved seeing her and playing with her cute little dog. They loved crawling through the doggy door and hanging out in the dog house! She made the most amazing sweet pork burritos (I'm def. going to get the recipe!) and made cookies with the boys. They had so much fun.

We had fun at the Arizona Science Center seeing real brains and lying on a bed of nails. We also went to the family Christmas party I haven't attended since I was a kid. There were over 130 people there! It was so fun to see people I haven't seen in years, but wish we could have had more time to visit.

We also got to see the beautiful Christmas lights at the Mesa temple. I've added some images of the Mesa, Arizona temple, which are free for personal use. If you use an image, feel free to donate a small amount (right toolbar) so that I can continue offering these for free. You may download these and other images on my free LDS temple pictures website.

Focusing on CHRISTmas

I'm off on a quick trip to sunny Arizona for an extended family party. Only a few days left 'til Christmas! In case you  missed my guest post over at The Things I Love, here are some of the traditions our family does to try and remember Christ at this season. Hope your holiday hasn't been too stressful and that you've been able to take a few moments and remember the reason we celebrate. God bless and Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning in my home growing up was pretty much like the running of the bulls. We would wake up around 5am, and wait for hours for our parents to FINALLY wake up. Once they gave the o.k. we all charged full speed ahead (mind you I grew up with 10 brothers and sisters, you would not want to get in the way of that) and burst into the front room to find our individual mountain of presents. And mountains they were. We never had a lot of money growing up, but you sure wouldn't know that by the number of presents we each had. Anything and everything that could be wrapped and considered a gift, was. I mean ANYTHING. It was not uncommon to open a package of socks on Christmas morning. Or underwear. You remember the kind that had the days of the week on them? So if you wore them two days in a row and were sitting real ladylike on the couch your brother would yell "Hey! it's not Monday, it's Tuesday!" Ya. those kind. Got 'em for Christmas. I even remember wrapping deodorant for my dad. And shaving cream. I'm sure he was super excited to open those presents. And the time my sister wrapped up two rocks? That was awesome.

Anyway. When I had my first child I was sooo excited to have our "first Christmas" together. I envisioned the mountains of gifts and the glow on his little cheeks. Then I realized, wait a sec, he's only two months old. He will eat the paper, choke and ruin everything. Christmas morning came and went and he didn't even know it was Christmas! So rude. It finally dawned on me that maybe Christmas wasn't really about the presents... I mean, he seemed to be ok without getting anything. Or at least without REALIZING he got anything.

As the years passed (he's a whopping five years old now) I started to have a different vision of Christmas in my mind. It started with a trip that my husband and I took to China. He had a three-week legal training in Beijing and I tagged along. We'd been to Mexico and the Bahamas before and thought we kind of knew what to expect as far as poverty. Not even close. I'll never forget the day we rode in the car of this INSANE driver weaving in and out of traffic, slamming on the brakes every few minutes, and multiple heart failures later, dropping us off in this remote village in the middle of who knows where, pointing to some trees at the top of a hill and saying "wall". "I pick you up later". And walking away. We were looking at each other praying that the Great Wall was really on the other side of those trees. And I had to pee! A nice little lady who was living inside some pieces of stacked up wood let me use her toilet. She pulled aside a curtain and pointed to a hole in the dirt. Yup. THAT is poverty. No tv. No plumbing. No refrigerator. No washing machine. So...I started picturing the holiday's volunteering at soup kitchen's, taking cookies to the widows and building a well for children in Africa. I envisioned teenagers who would rather give Christmas to children in need than to want the latest electronic device for themselves. So maybe that will never be reality, but it's something to shoot for. I started to realize that MY attitude and beliefs about Christmas would essentially determine what their attitudes and beliefs would be.

My husband and I discussed ways we could encourage them to appreciate all the things they've been blessed with and not just be spoiled rotten kids. We figured we'd start by donating to charities ourselves. Once our son was old enough to write we started having him write the checks to UNICEF and LDS Charities. When natural disasters strike such as Japan last year, we donate a little to help. We don't have a lot of money, but we choose to reserve a certain percentage of our income to help others. We hope that this will teach our children that helping others is important and that everything we have is a gift from God and not really ours.

So, I started to think about ways I could teach my children that Christmas is really about Jesus and the miracle he gave us rather than gifts and presents and me me me. Don't get me wrong, I love presents as much as the next person, but let's face it, at the end of the day I am the one who has to put away all that junk day after day, so really more is less. That was our first decision. Limiting gifts. I think one or two well chosen gifts is enough for a child to enjoy the excitement of Christmas without becoming a spoiled *you know what* and building an ever-increasing list of Christmas demands.

The next step was thinking of ways we could make each day leading up to Christmas feel special. I came across this article that shared the meaning of Christmas traditions and thought it would be fun to link all of these traditions back to Jesus. I also found a great downloadable book from Discovering the Scriptures that shares a Christmas tradition, story and/or activity for the 25 days of Christmas and a scripture countdown chain. We are going to go through this book together this year.

Next we let our extended families know that rather than adult gift exchanges as we've done in years past we would prefer to either work together to provide service for someone or we would like to use the money we would have spent on a uselessthoughtful gift for them and buy something to help others in need. Last year we purchased some vaccinations from Unicef in lieu of a family member's gift. It felt good. Another great organization for holiday gift giving is Heifer where you can purchase a farm animal (among other things) to provide food for a village. There are dozens of good causes, just pick one and support it!

We also want to perform some kind of service for others. My children are not soup kitchen age yet, but they CAN go to a nursing home and sing Christmas carols. We can choose a family in need to give money or gifts to. They can drop a few coins in the Salvation Army bucket. They can write a letter to or visit someone who is lonely. There are many small ways that even small children can show others they care. One thing I want to do this year is to create little kits to hand out to the homeless people we see downtown. Rather than ignore their pleas for help as we pass by pretending we don't notice, we can provide them with a small backpack of food and essential supplies.

Lastly, I tried to think of ways we could remember Jesus on Christmas day. On Christmas Eve we do the traditional nativity and reading from the bible but Christmas day has always been about Santa Claus. This year we decided that the gifts under the tree were family gifts. The gifts in the stocking would be from Santa. And we saved all the "thankful" notes that we wrote in the month of November, are going to wrap them up in a box with a note "from Jesus". On Christmas morning we will open the gift and read all the things that Jesus has blessed us with.

These are just a few ways our family is trying to come closer to Christ this Christmas season. What things do you do to make Him part of your Christmas celebrations?

What are the things you do with your family to remember Jesus this season?

Ho Ho Ho

Did you know that Santa was a mormon? He totally is. He came to our ward Christmas party last night. The boys have gone to Disney World so many times that they love anyone in costume, especially one bearing sweet treats.

Grant ran ahead before anyone could catch him and jumped up on his lap (even though a little girl was already there) he saw candy and wasn't going to let anything stand in his way.

 

Joshua's little face lit up the first time he saw Santa. He loves anyone in costume. You should have seen him following the Easter Bunny around last year when we visited the nursing home. It was hilarious.

My kids don't really know about asking Santa for things yet, but Ethan was trying really hard to come up with something to ask for. I'll keep their sweet innocence as long as I can!

Christmas wish list

In case you haven't finished up the rest of your Christmas shopping, here are a few ideas for the ladies and little ones on your list:

These stylish aprons from Sarah Sews with Love- and for a good cause! Purchase one for yourself or for a friend and know that you are helping a little boy receive his much needed diabetes medication!



Fabulous earrings- from HooplaHoopla.

This adorable hat- from Jade Expressions 

Lovely cloth napkins- from Little Birds Boutique

Adorable Christmas diaper cover- from Priceless Keepsakes

Sweet hats for little girls and boys- from Yarning2BMe

Adorable vest & tie onesie- from Elles Blossom Boutique 

Beautiful blankets- from Kiki Kiddos



AND a few DIY's from   

I am making this for my boys (don't tell!) They will each get their own and can push together for one long table. Idea from Meet the Dubiens blog. It's the best I've seen and IKEA tables were on sale for $7/each!

Perfect for curious little minds, from Lilla A


Beautiful and easy wreath from Deck the Halls

Super cute tote, from Strawberry Owl Designs. Be sure to check out her other tutorials too!

Hope that gives you a few ideas. What are some things on your gift or "wish" list?

Focusing on CHRISTmas

I'm guest posting over at The Things I Love today! Kendra has some fabulous ideas for getting in the Christmas spirit from acts of service to Christmas books and movies and scripture countdown chains. Head on over to see what our family is doing to try and focus on Christ this Christmas!

P.S. the winner of The 5,000 Year Leap was chosen by Random.org and was comment #3 Annmarie (who just happens to be one of my best friends)! Congratulations! I will get you your prize ;)

Festival of Trees

I went to Festival of Trees this last week. There is such an amazing display of Christmas trees, wreaths, gingerbread houses, and more! All the proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital, such a great cause and a fun way to start the holiday season!

The Lego tree was a big hit with the boys, and fortunately there were lots of trains too!

I love this frame idea- I'm so doing this when I get my own house again!

And don't forget- last chance to win a free copy of Skousen's book, The 5,000 Year Leap.

Click here to enter.

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