Friday, December 29, 2006

Christmas Festivities

Wow, what a whirlwind this last month of 2006 has been. Our family has enjoyed so many holiday traditions. Here is a little taste as to what we have been up to.

Brian's Orchestra played for the annual Christmas tree lighting for a neighboring town. The kids went with Tutu and I to see them play. Dudu and Gigi joined us to share in the excitement. Santa arrived on a fire truck and Noah and Camden were number 3 & 4 in line to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Noah asked for a remote-controlled dinosaur and Camden asked for a hot air balloon.

We celebrated as a family at our Church's first annual family Christmas party. We again got to see Santa and the wish list didn't change. Camden did however add the Little Mermaid to his request. The adults had fun playing a "get-to-know" you game while the kids reveled in their activities and games just for them.

The celebration continued with a Birthday party for Jesus at church on Sunday morning. Complete with cupcakes and gifts to present to baby Jesus.

This time of year would not be complete without ventuing out to see Christmas lights. We went to two different neighborhoods this year. Noah was so much fun to listen to as we drove around. "Mommy, this is the best Christmas ever" or "Wow, look at all those lights" or "Look over here, look over there", it never stopped. An hour and half later he was still going strong and just as excited as ever. We stopped at a house we visisted last year to ride a train that the homeowner had assembled in his back yard. Noah remembered this house from last year and was just beside himself to visit again this year. Camden also enjoyed it, being a little older this year I am sure he will remember it also next year.
My grandparents arrived and the activities continued. Cookie baking was in full swing. Christmas is just not complete without having grandma's cookies. Mark, Tiffany, Brian and I joined the kids in icing the cut-out cookies. Wow, that was fun...the creativity just overwhelmed me...well, maybe not! Just kidding! Last minute shopping was done, all the wrapping was done and we were ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.


After a wonderful morning at church singing all my favorite carols, we headed over to Dudu and Gigi's house to celebrate with Brian's family. We enjoyed good food and had a great time watching the kids open their gifts. Next we headed over to Brian's Great Aunt's house for more fun with cousins. I look forward to this event every year. About 30 of us celebrated with even more food, presents and good fun. We got home late, put out milk, cookies and reindeer food and went to bed.

Christmas morning came early at around 7 a.m. The kids were so excited to see what Santa had brought them. We opened gifts after singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus. I think this is wonderful tradition that Noah suggested. The kids got most of what they were expecting and a few suprises as well.




We drove over to my parents around 10, just in time to open a few more presents and have a wonderful turkey dinner. After lunch, there were more gifts to open and then much needed naps to take. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the Christmas season being with family.

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