Sunday Best & Candlelight

 Here's the family in our Christmas attire for Sunday (wishing I had taken a moment to tuck in my shirt).

 

 Attempt of all 3 kids

 Pretty princess Norah in the dress Grandma Bradshaw gave her. She told me she was a "pwincess" the moment she had it on and began to twirl.

 Handsome Logan

 This picture makes me smile every time I look at it. :)

 A tradition we've began is having a candlelight dinner the Sunday before Christmas. My parents used to do this around Christmastime when I was young. We had a pork roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and homemade bread.

 My neighbor gave us a box of cake mix and candles as a gift reminding us to celebrate the birth of Christ. I loved this idea! I think it was an easy concept for the kids to understand when we told them we are celebrating Jesus' birthday. We also took a turn saying something we'd like to give to Jesus this year. It was a good experience for our family and something I would like to do every year.

Gingerbread House

 Another activity we enjoy doing are gingerbread houses. It was really hard for Logan and Norah to understand that they couldn't eat the candy but decorate with it. Logan got sick off the candy a few years ago so I get a little paranoid. I'm thinking next year we'll do a smaller, more edible version.

 Daddy is great at detail work. Check out those scallops!

 Max watched from the sidelines. Maybe next year buddy.

 The finished product!

 Days after Logan would still ask if he could eat it (or steal while I wasn't looking). Just so tempting!

New Traditions

Benj and I were talking about some of the traditions we had at Christmastime growing up. I feel like we are still in the process of making some of our own family traditions. Here are a few we tried out this year.

One of them was the arrival of Buddy the Elf. He hangs out at our house during the day to watch the kids to see how they are behaving. At night he magically travels back to the North Pole to report to Santa. The kids really liked Buddy so I think he might return again next year.

 One of the traditions (not so much new) we have is getting new ornaments for the kids each year. Logan got an airplane, Norah a snowman, and Max a 1st Christmas one. Even Daddy got a Ute nutcracker. Logan and Norah LOVED decorating the tree this year. I had to resist my perfectionism and leave the ornaments where they were.

 

Another tradition we started is reading a Christmas book each night by the tree. We opened one a day. The kids looked forward to this every night and it was quite magical to read by the light of the tree each night. Some of the books we already owned, some borrowed from the library, and a few new ones we added to our collection. 

 This was also the first year the kids wrote letters to Santa. I found a great template online and let them fill them out themselves. Excuse Norah's post-nap bedhead.

Logan did a great job filling his in. He asked for a Spiderman "racing track". Norah asked for a

"pwincess".

We also found a new place for Christmas lights. Instead of going to Temple Square (it was just too cold for little Max this year) we stayed in our warm car and went to a nearby park where they had a cool tunnel, tons of animals and other fun scenes!

 

Another new thing we did (no picture, darn it) was celebrate the anniversary of our engagement. Its been 8 years! Benj and I enjoyed a lovely dinner at Olive Garden while Grandma Bradshaw watched all three kiddos. It was the first time leaving Max but it was so nice spending time alone with my sweetheart. I definately hope to do this one again and again.

Stay tuned for more! 

Christmas Day

 Santa found our house this year and left us with oodles of goodies.

Logan got this awesome Tonka truck. You can see its about as big as he is!

Norah was interested in everything. She loved to open her presents and was thrilled with it all. 

We made our way to Benj's sister's house for breakfast and the opening of more presents. 

We stayed til the afternoon and headed over to Benj's grandparent's house for a Christmas feast. I failed to take a single picture while there. Probably because I was busy feeding my face with some of the best food ever. Grandma Mel always goes out of her way to serve a beautiful meal. She is amazing. 

The kids both fell asleep in the car after dinner and went to bed an hour early. Must've been a pretty good Christmas. 

Next up: Christmas in Idaho Falls!

Christmas Eve

  Christmas Eve is always special for us. We are invited to sister-in-law's in-laws house. Catch that? Its so thoughtful of them to invite us to their family gathering.

Before going there, we stopped by for a visit with Great-Grandpa Bradshaw. He had fallen ill a couple weeks before Christmas and is still recuperating. Doing a lot better and was in good spirits for our little visit. Logan really liked his wheelchair.

 After a delicious meal and talking about some of our Christmas traditions, we began the ever-popular candy bar game.

Rules were changed a little this year and instead of just candy, there were toys, gadgets, and gift cards galore. It made for an intense game.  I ended up with a Cheesecake Factory gift card through trading and Logan came home with a whole bag of Legos, candy, and bubbles. Benj got headphones and a gift card to Burger King.

 Norah dined while we played. She was content to eat strawberries the whole time.

 After the game we shared some of our talents, thoughts, testimonies, and of course, the Christmas Story. It was a wonderful time for all.

Pre-Christmas

 The weekend before Christmas consisted of:

our ward breakfast

 including a visit from Santa! Here's Norah and Daddy waiting in line.

Logan was very excited about Santa this year. This was his first year not being afraid of him. That fear has now been passed down to Norah, who will not have anything to do with him or even Mrs. Claus. When asked what he wanted for Christmas, Logan told him a puzzle. 

My boys looking dashing after church on Sunday.

Love when he holds still long enough for a photo. 

And the girls. I was able to participate in the choir this year. Something I've always loved doing but haven't done since having children. Benj handled both kids with ease (I had no doubt).

That evening we did a candlelight dinner. This is a tradition my side of the family has done for years. I decided that the Sunday before Christmas is a great time for this, since we usually do something else for Christmas Eve.

The theme was a red and green dinner. I pulled out our wedding china (something I only do a couple times a year). The menu was:

Mixed greens salad with strawberries

Spaghetti and meatballs

Parmesan broccoli

Garlic bread

Marbled red velvet cheesecake

It was rather laughable this year since Logan refused to eat hardly anything and Norah was beyond tired because she missed her afternoon nap. When all was said and done, Benj and I were the only ones to enjoy dessert. 

Hopefully in a few year this kiddos will learn to appreciate this types of things. :)