We had a great Christmas. We were able to spend a lot of time together as a little family and as a big family too.
Donnie's family has a tradition of gathering on Christmas Eve for a "shepherd's meal" and a little nativity program. This year Donnie's sister who lives here was kind enough to invite us to her house the Monday before Christmas for a shepherd's meal. She also invited a bunch of other families over for the night too.
Everyone brought food to share and then we followed the same program that Donnie's Idaho family does. His mom put together a great booklet with the scriptures and hymns, and we used that as a guide.
It was nice to spend time with others and to have our kids engaged in the story of Jesus's birth.
We continued our new tradition of taking the kids to ride The Pink Pig at Macy's. Sydney loved it (we took her back again last Saturday), but Jaxon wasn't so big into the loud voice-over accompanying the ride. I was a little disappointed with his reaction - especially since we waited for one hour and fifteen minutes to ride the thing.
We also spent a day at Stone Mountain. They had a lot of cute activities going on, and since it was pretty cold we spent a lot of time indoors at different shows. Sydney really liked one show where four elves sang Christmas songs from around the world (as Santa moved from place to place he would call the elves to report his progress and they would sing a song from that area).
Some of the songs were strange - like the Italian Christmas donkey - but others were really fun - like when the kids were able to shake maracas and sing "Feliz Navidad."
We grabbed some hot chocolate and stood outside to watch the Christmas parade and visit with Santa. Sydney ran right up to Santa (when it was our turn), umped on his lap, and started listing her desired gifts. Jaxon took one look at the man in red and started screaming for his life.
We were finally able to have a picture made, but only after I sat down in front of Santa and held Jaxy in my lap. He did appreciate the candy cane Santa passed out afterward though. He also liked looking at all of the lights. Almost every tree in the park had some sort of decoration on it, and Jaxy would excitedly point and yell, "TREE!"
We also made ornaments again this year. Sydney made a reindeer (Rudolph), Donnie made two snowmen on a sled, and Jaxy and I made a gingerbread house (using foam and stickers). He tried to eat more than he tried to apply, but it still turned out well.
On Christmas morning, my parents came over for breakfast, and to watch the kids open their presents. We had to wake Sydney, and she was reallyy sleepy. When she came into the living room, we told her to go see what presents Santa brought for her, but instead of running to the toys and checking them out, she sat across the room staring.
Santa brought Jaxon a vacuum cleaner (seriously, that is what he really wanted), and he wouldn't put it down to open his presents. Sydney really enjoyed unwrapping her gifts, and when she finished, she moved on to her brother's.
That afternoon we went to my grandmother's house for dinner and more presents. It was nice to spend time with family and enjoy some yummy food.
On New Year's Eve we went to my parents' house for food and fire works. We spent the evening playing games, waiting for midnight. Allison (and her family), Jana (and her family), and Mauri's kids all spent the night too, so it was a packed house - which made it that much more fun.
Now the fun is over, and it is back to the real world. Donnie still has a few days off before classes start, but I am back to early mornings, so the fun is over.
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