Merry Christmas!!!

 Christmas Lights...

A couple Mondays before Christmas we went to look at lights at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.  It was such a fun night.  The kids loved all the lights, they were running around yelling and pointing!  My favorite lights were a Christmas tree that was set to music.  Nick loved the lit arch way.  Trevor loved the scavenger hunt where he looked for different animals that lit up, fish jumping, frogs hopping, and a hummingbird to name a few.  It was a fun family home evening night.  

(The tree is in the background in the picture below.) 

 The archway.

Hot cocoa in the car for the ride home.  

We brought all the things with us to make it in the van for the ride home.  

This was Jacob's favorite thing!

The Sunday before Christmas...a family photo right before church.

You can't really tell, but I curled Ellie's hair with a curling iron for the first time 

and she looked adorable with it curled!  

 The Monday before Christmas we decorated gingerbread houses for family home evening.

Ellie was so cute...she ate way more candy then made it on the gingerbread house!  

 Christmas Eve this year was a dinner, nativity program and opening 2 presents. And after the kids went to bed: watching Little Women (I think Nick wishes this wasn't a tradition of mine) and wrapping presents. 

The nativity program.  Oh, how I love this puppet show program 

we have done the last 3 Christmases! 

Opening 2 presents: Christmas PJ's and a book to read in bed while they fall asleep.

Here we are in our Christmas PJ's.  (I have gotten pretty good at using the self timer :))

 Nick showed the kids how you can track Santa on the computer.  Trevor and Jacob loved this!  

This is how Ellie tracked Santa, the old fashioned way.

 Christmas Morning!!! 

 Here is Ellie opening her gift from Santa!

Trevor and Jacob opening their gifts from Santa!

The aftermath.  Nick loves that our townhouse has a fire place.  He started a fire this morning before the kids got up! It makes me a little nervous...but it was fun.  

Christmas breakfast.  It was a little sad to not be able to go to Jeana's for our annual Christmas breakfast this year (but come to find our we couldn't have gone over this year anyways...Halle and Jeana have the flu.)

Christmas cinnamon rolls...I have made these the last 7 years or so.  

The rest of the day consisted of playing with the new gifts, going to the park to play on the toys and tag, going to Trevor's elementary school to throw Nick's new frisbees and play knock out (Trevor loves this game!), and watching movies.

It was different being across the country with no family around, but it was fun chatting on the phone and computer with all of our family. 

It was a wonderful Christmas season!  Jacob and Trevor would get up each morning and would find our Elf George and then come running to tell me where it was.  Jacob loved moving the advent calendar to the next day and asking me how much longer until Christmas.  Ellie would go around saying Ho, Ho, Ho and Merry Christmas.  It was such a magical time of year and the kids excitement was so fun!  But the thing I loved the most was seeing my kids starting to understand the  true meaning of Christmas, that we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  I loved the discussion we had about following the light of Christ as we headed to see Christmas lights that Monday for Family home evening.  Ellie loved talking about Baby Jesus and carrying him around from the little people nativity.  Trevor and Jacob are learning that giving gifts is better then getting gifts.  

I am so grateful for this Holiday season.  

 Merry Christmas!   

And Ellie finished the night where she started....in her cozy coupe car! She loved it!