Holiday Happenings

Every year the holidays seem to pass much too quickly. But I like to think we live up every moment possible during that magical time of year!

This year was so much fun! Landon really understood what Christmas is all about ... and he definitely understood Santa in a whole new way also! And watching Christmas unfold for the first time through the eyes of a baby is just about as magical as you can get! 

A few highlights from our Christmas season:

*Landon played Joseph in the Joy School Christmas program. Cutest. Thing. EVER! 
*Telling the nativity story before bed. We have the Fisher Price nativities in each of their rooms so they can play with them. And each night we tell the story of Baby Jesus. I love watching them learn, and begin to understand the real gift of Christmas. 
*We started a new tradition of a "Christmas Eve Box" that includes the kids' jammies, a new Christmas book, a new movie and a treat to open on Christmas Eve.
*Taking the kids to see Santa. Landon was very jazzed up about the big guy in red this year. Liam on the other hand was feeling like he might be a bit sketchy.

*Fun parties! We had our church party, friends invited us over, we decorated cookies with the kids and Jeff's work had a fun get-together.
*Christmas lights! I love the lights on temple square! It's a special date for Jeff and I each year, and we always take the kids as well.
*Seeing Frozen. I don't even like animated movies and I've seen it twice - it's really that cute. The kids like it too :)
*Landon putting us on the "Naughty List" or the "Nice List." Generally we moved lists a few times a day depending on how his day was going. Also, it was the first year we could hold said "list" above his head. Worked like a charm :)!
*Babies wearing elf jammies.
*Landon received a special message from the North Pole letting him know that he made the "Nice List!" His face was priceless!

Christmas Day was magical! Landon tore through his presents. It made us happy to see how much he loved what he got, but sad in a way too. In past years he opened slowly to play with and enjoy each toy. His favorites: race car set (this actually kept all the boys - old and young - busy for hours), dinosaurs, Jake's Island and a kitchen for both of them.

Liam was just delighted by new toys and all that WRAPPING PAPER! He would just look at us and grin - fascinated by the whole process. His favorites: Rocking pony (it sings while he rides and he dances and rocks ... and has the CUTEST smile on his face the whole time), dinosaur that pops balls out, bath toys, books and the kitchen.

 Jeff and I both took a couple days off after Christmas and we had a great time just hanging out together as a family and relaxing. 

New Years isn't a huge deal to us, but we wanted to do something fun with the kiddos. We went out for Chinese and then had a party in the basement ... complete with balloons, noisemakers and watching the ball drop on the big screen. Don't tell the boys ... but it was a YouTube video of the ball drop in 2010 :)! 

Now here we are ... in 2014. I really can't believe it! I'm grateful for the wonderful Christmas season we had - spent with family and good friends. We feel incredibly blessed and I hope we can keep the magic of the season with us throughout the year.