Christmas Activities

A little rundown of our pre-Christmas activities this year...most of these are cell phone pictures, so excuse the poor quality.

We went and picked out a Christmas tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. This will probably be our last live tree for a long time because we bought a nice fake one on an after Christmas sale (hooray!) Jon prefers the big, beautiful real trees, and while I like them, the practical side of me really prefers a nice, beautiful fake tree that doesn't shed needles and doesn't have to be bought year after year. And having a pre-lit tree doesn't hurt either.  :)

 An unplanned visit with Santa at the mall

 The kids thought it was hilarious that Alyssa fit in the stocking

 And a random non-Christmas picture that was taken last month. Cute kiddos hanging out.

We were able to spend a couple different days with Jon's family before Christmas. The Saturday before Christmas they had their annual family Christmas party. They went all out for their Polar Express themed party. We received our tickets for the Polar Express in the mail the week before. The kids thought we were really going to ride the Polar Express and were ecstatic. It was a little sad to let them down, but they were still thrilled that they got to go to Grandma's house. We hung out that day, had a yummy dinner, decorated gingerbread houses, watched The Polar Express, and had a yummy hot chocolate bar. And I didn't get a single picture!

On Christmas Eve we went out to their house again. We went roller skating during the day, which was quite the experience with 3 little kids. Emma was terrified at first, but got the hang of it and ended up loving it. Ellie LOVED it, but someone had to hold her up and basically carry her around the rink because she wasn't holding any of her weight. She was just along for the ride and having a great time. Matthew hated it and only went around the rink once before sitting out and playing games on the iPhone. Ah well...good times!

We had an amazing dinner, opened sibling and grandparent gifts, and the grandkids acted out the nativity. Such a fun night!

Ellie loves the soft teddy bear and the blanket that Grandma made

 The Ninjago golden dragon with the golden ninja has been on Matthew's wish list and he was thrilled

 And the airbrush art set was a huge hit too

 I'm pretty sure that Emma is always Mary and Owen is always Joseph. And of course whoever the baby is that year gets to be baby Jesus. Ironically, all 3 of my girls have had a turn being Jesus. Matthew is the only one of our kids who never got to.

 The crew this year consisted of Mary, Joseph, a shepherd, and two adorable angels.

The Monday before Christmas we went to a live nativity event called Bethlehem A.D. It was seriously awesome and something we'll definitely do again. If you live around here, check it out! It is put on by a church in Redwood City. They build this massive replica of Bethlehem that you walk through. You pay your taxes, sign the census, walk through the town center and see all the shops. There are tons of animals that you can pet (the kids loved the camels!) and then you end up at the stable where Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are. They have the kids come sit up in front of them for a few minutes. Very cool! Before going to the program we ate dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory, which is one of our new favorites, and after the program we drove around looking at Christmas lights. Alyssa miraculously slept the entire 4ish hours we were gone and we had a great time.

And to finish off our pre-Christmas festivities...the kids on the Sunday before Christmas. I had wanted to get a picture before church but we were late, so this is what we ended up with after our afternoon church...and it cracks me up. Some very obviously over-tired kids. Matthew had been crying the whole way home and Ellie's hair looks...awesome... Real life in all it's glory.  :)