Be Warned.
Picture Driven Post.
We did 12 days of Christmas books this year and I think it was a pretty big hit with the kids, Thea even sat through most of the longer books.
I don't know I'll do it every year but it might be a good every other year tradition, or maybe I'll wrap books we already have. Who knows.
We caught Dorothea sneaking into Henry's room with presents and opening them up a couple times.
We had our ward Christmas party which was a breakfast-I love breakfast. The three wards in the building decorated together and then had one dinner on Friday night, a breakfast Saturday morning and another dinner Saturday night. I thought it was a great idea.
Henry was game to sit on Santa's lap and joke with him...
Thea was absolutely not.
The best part was when Johann picked her up and she hugged him and calmed down so he turned her around to see if now she'd be okay with Santa and she screamed, shook her head no, no, no and yelled NOOOO! while also waving her hands in the air. Priceless.
Johann and kids with our ward missionaries at the time, Elder Morgan, Sister Willis, Elder Escamillia and Sister Haight. We love getting to know them all better since Johann works with them more.
Henry had his Kindergarten Christmas show and it was pretty darn cute.
I had a week of feeling like I was a living being and decided to crank out a few Christmas goodies to give out. Johann took the bark below to work (they looooved it) and we used it for the missionaries and some friends I met up with during the break. The recipe is here.
Henry had mustache day at school. He had this one in addition to the one underneath.
We went to the Orange Empire Railway Museum with the Simonds family
The cousins!
Henry got serious about looking 'like Christmas' for church the Sunday before.
Dorothea got serious about snacks.
They looks so much older than I want to believe they are.
I got a cold (which I still have) and started feeling like junk again. I was trying to make chocolate sugar cookies for neighbor/friend plates but I must have done something wrong and the dough was too soft. I basically said, I quit, it's not worth it and sat down on the couch. Henry insisted on rolling out the remaining dough and cutting it out.
His turned out better than mine.
Maybe it's the dragon costume?
Then on Christmas Eve we headed to the Simonds' in Riverside to opening gifts and celebrate there.
Max and Apollo opening gifts.
Thea got excited about her new shirt.
Then we just hung around and visited. Apollo sat like this in Johann's lap for a good while, while Johann read. I'm telling you, that kid is soooo relaxed.
Then the night came so we put the kids in their Christmas jammies courtesy of Grammy Goodwin, read The Night Before Christmas and loaded them into the car to fall asleep on the drive home.
Christmas morning started out with an inconsolable Henry coming crying into our room because he had wet his Christmas pjs and didn't have any Christmas jammies to wear on Christmas morning. I mean, he was seriously distraught. Thankfully there were some Santa footies in the clean laundry and he was able to calm down after about 10 minutes. Yup.
Once that 'crisis' was averted we moved on to the serious business of gift opening.
Santa gifts by the fire place
and
family gifts under the tree
Opening stockings, Thea pointing at Henry's giant kit kat and saying "Dat! Dat!"
Hamp and Annie did the stockings this year (you know, for Santa, they helped him) and did a great job!
Johann and Jacob in the matching pjs from Christmas Eve from my mom
Showing off her new kicks
This was the first year Henry got to pick gifts on his own. His school had a boutique so I gave him like 7 bucks to get something for everyone that lives in the house. He got my mom a pen-pictured above, Johann a lakers lanyard (his reasoning-it's sports, right? I can see a parent trying to help him, "well does your daddy like sports? Dads like sports," and Henry thinking, oh, yeah I think so), uncle Aaron some christmas socks I believe, Thea a little stuff mouse that wraps onto a car seat and I got a flowery headband type thing.
It was really, really sweet to see how excited he was to have us open his gifts and how proud he was to feel he made someone else happy with his gift
.
The mayhem.
Probably Thea's favorite gift-her shopping cart. She loves pushing it around everywhere.
Uncle Aaron got Henry stuff to look like a guy from a show called Adventure Time-anybody? I watched one episode to see what Aaron and Henry saw together. Oh brother.
Then-cinnamon rolls. mmm.
Lastly, probably my favorite picture from Christmas day. It's just.so.Dorothea.
