Weeks leading up to Christmas
These are a few of my favorite things:
Trimming the tree
We started a tradition this year of having the boys pick out two ornaments for the tree; Beck's picked a cat and a shark; Amari picked an excavator and Santa in an airplane; Mike a funky fish and an owl, and I picked out a Swedish horse, and The Leaning Tower of Pisa.
We changed it up after 6 years: pink, blues, and greens. We wanted it to be glitz and glam :)
Beck's letter to Santa
Ward Christmas Party: this time Beck's was not shy at all telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas; Amari loved clapping after each carol we sung :)
Our sweet friend Lisa who works at the gym and has known the kids since Amari was a baby made those yummy Swedish treats for us; it was so nice having authentic Swedish food again :)
I sort of am ashamed at all the Christmas gifts piling up in our bedroom; Mike's starting to think I am a hoarder :)
I bawled my eyes out when I opened this package sent from my mother. I have such beautiful memories of these Swedish horses she had among her wonderful collection of Christmas decorations. I remember as a child spending hours caught up in the enchantment of the magical Christmas villages softly lit under her tree. I'd spend hours playing make believe--wondering what Christmas carols echoed through the streets, what sights, smells, and sounds could be heard in each home...these horses hold the same meaning for me--I remember being so grateful when my mother allowed me to put them wherever I wanted on display in our home. I love and miss her so much, especially this time of year. How grateful I am for these memories, how grateful I am that she passed on such a beautiful treasure to me...how grateful I am to have grown up in her home for a few short years #christmas#memories #missing #mother #swedish #horses #christmas #decorations#family #childhood
Little Roudolph trying his darndest to stay awake :)
We stayed in Alabama this Christmas and had a quiet Christmas to ourselves. We wish we could have been with family but it was too expensive to fly and too far to drive. It was nice to keep things low key and quiet and quaint this year. We started the week out with a lot of service; we cleaning the church building (the kids did great helping us), and we babysat Rhett Anderson and fed the Anderson's for three days.
For Christmas Eve we took all the presents we bought to Cedella and her family (a family we helped out for Thanksgiving. The two girls—Cedella and Sade—are recent converts and their dad lost his job; they recently lost their mother as well. Sade is in high school and Cedella is attending college and working two jobs—she is the sole provider for their family. Their story broke my heart when I heard about them; I am so grateful we have been fortunate to get to know them better and help make their holidays more enjoyable). This kids got to open their one gift—new jambes which they loved, and sprinkle Reindeer food out on the lawn so Santa could find our house. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner: chili and a relish tray, and then we reenacted the Nativity. It was so fun to see how excited the kids got about being Shepherds, and it was beyond precious to see Amari hug and kiss baby Jesus :). I showed the kids these videos on LDS.org—some of my favorite this year— and Amari's countenance was priceless—he is so in tune to music, it moves him beyond words—it is so precious to witness.
I LOVED this one as well!
We had the most amazing thing happen to us Christmas Eve. We had just put the kids to bed (we attempted a sleepover per Beckahm's request, which really didn't turn out that well). A half hour later we heard "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" blasting on a speaker outside our apartment building. Mike rushed out to see what it was and it was the local fire department driving around our complex with Santa waving outside the passenger side window. We ran and got the kids out of bed and brought them out on the deck. I can't even describe how excited Beckahm was, he was absolutely beside himself! He started jumping up and down yelling, "Santa's here, Santa's here!" I think I got even more excited than he did as I looked around and noticed we were really the only ones outside and that Santa was literally right below our deck waving to the kids. It couldn't have been more perfect; I mean what child has that kind of experience, especially on Christmas Eve. The amazing thing about this incident was that just the night before I read Beckahm a book we had rented from the library entitled: "Dumpy Saves Christmas", and it is essentially about Santa delivering presents Christmas Eve when his sleigh breaks down on this little boys farm. Santa petitions the little boy to help him and the little boy says that Santa can use their old beat up truck (whom he believes in quiet passionately) to help deliver the presents. The little boy and Santa hitch the reindeer up to Dumpy and the they spend the night flying Christmas presents all around the world. Moments after the firetruck disappeared, Beckahm said to me "mom, it's just like that book we read, Santa's sleigh broke down and he had to use the firetruck to save Christmas!" I was moved to tears; what a special, incredible, memorable moment my little boys and family will never forget! THANK YOU HOOVER FIRE DEPARTMENT!! How incredibly nice and thoughtful!!
Cleaning the church building; the kids were so helpful!
Becks found the mic in the church; he was so cute giving his first "talk"
Christmas goodies
Someone finished his Advent Calendar; Beckahm and Amari loved eating the chocolates every day!
Dropping off gifts to a family in our ward who needed help this Christmas
Christmas Eve dinner: chili and breadsticks
Reinactment of the Nativity; Beck's and Amari loved being Shepards and Amari kept kissing baby Jesus
Tradition: open one gift on Christmas Eve—new pjs!
Brotherly love! LOVE their new pjs!!
Merry Christmas Eve!!
Putting food out for the Reindeer!
Christmas presents out
Making a plate for Santa; Amari couldn't help himself; he ate quite a few :)
Beckahm was so excited to see his light saber in the tree when he woke up Christmas morning. Amari was excited just to see all the gift wrapped with Mater/Cars wrapping paper :). We decided to make the day last longer by taking our time opening gifts; we had the kids first open their stockings (Amari was hesitant at first until he realized this huge sock was filled with many surprises :).
Christmas Stockings
The kids enjoyed their stockings and then we ate our brunch and then opened presents (stopping to open and play with each one as we went along). They got spoiled this year: trains, cars, transformers, a Cabellas truck and camping gear, a bat mobile, a batman cave interactive toy, books, movies, a hot wheels track, boats, buses, a build your own plane, and much more :). It was fun to spoil them this year! Amari is still at the age where he is not that into unwrapping gifts, but he loved each toy, especially the bat mobile. It was fun to watch Beckahm freak out (the first year he's really started to understand Santa and presents); seriously, Christmas is so much more fun with kids.
Christmas Breakfast
Unsure about Elf on a Shelf
Uh Oh, there was a lot of grabbing others gifts away from the other this year
Fire Rescue plane from Grandma Eastman
Choo choo, Amari was happy he got his own train set.
This captures Christmas entirely! He was so excited about his Ninja Turtle robe :)
Fire Rescue movie and book from Grandma E.
Fire Rescue Helicopter from Grandma E
He LOVED his light saber!
Building his new airplane with Dad
Amari loved his boat
This was a toy both of them wanted!
Cute little man!
Their new Hot Wheels race track!
Sending love to family that we miss so much!
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