December is Off to a Great Start!

It's the most wonderful time of the year and we are just loving all the fun and magic that comes with kids and Christmas.

Grandma Jan started the fun on Thanksgiving night by giving the kids a cute Christmas countdown calendar for the kids. They love putting a magnet on the fridge every day and look forward to it every day!

You haven't lived until you've had the pleasure of constructing a gingerbread house with a man who builds houses for a living. Notice the hot glue gun...the icing just wasn't a good enough hold for Greg and we had to bring out the big guns.

Garrett and Abby-Belle loved decorating it. I'm pretty sure they ate more candy than they put on the house, but that's the best part of it, right?

A highlight every Christmas is getting out the play Nativity. I came in one day to find the kids had lined up all the animals and people so they were worshiping the baby Jesus. I thought it was so sweet and it made me smile. Garrett and Abby are at perfect ages for Christmas this year. They are excited about Santa Claus, but they also love talking about the baby Jesus and hearing the story of His birth.

We had another nice visit with the Jolly Old Elf this year. Abby asked for a whole bunch of princess stuff (not a surprise) and Garrett is really hoping for a robot, a real rocket he can launch into the sky, and maybe some Legos. We'll see what Santa delivers. I hope he's not too disappointed.

We made the trek into the hills again to cut down our Christmas tree. This is starting to be one of my favorite Christmas traditions and something I love doing with our little family. Our good friends Lea, Lisa, and Camden came with us this year and we had so much fun!

Lisa helped Garrett cut down his very own little Christmas tree to keep in his room. He was so excited!

Another favorite Christmas tradition is taking the kids to a live Nativity with my cousins. My sweet cousin, Jan, planned a special night and even sent the kids their own invitations in the mail. They were so excited and we had such a fun night. It was FREEZING (like seriously 5 degrees outside), but we bundled up and braved it and were so glad we did.

Something about seeing the Christmas story presented while sitting on straw bales in a freezing cold barn really puts everything in perspective. Abby was completely mesmerized and we watched the performance twice and then had to go back and watch it one more time before we left.

We went back to Jan's house after for soup and hot chocolate.

We put the little tree up in the kids' room and they got to choose a new ornament this year for their tree. We started doing this last year and I think it will be a fun thing for them to have as they get older.

Garrett chose Hermie to go alone with the Snowmonster he got last year. He's working on the entire collection and is already trying to decide which "Rudolph" character he is going to choose next year.

Abby chose Belle. She chose a princess ornament last year and is also trying to decide which princess she wants next year.

Their little tree turned out so cute and we had such a fun time decorating it. Greg was working out of town all week, so we haven't gotten our big tree set up yet, but the plan is to do it this weekend and we are so excited!