Merry Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. . . we had a FABULOUS time. . . the kids LOVED every minute of the season. . . we WORE ourselves out completely and have spent a few wonderful days HOLED up in our house enjoying all the new toys and having Nate home with us for some relaxing, LAZY days.

I hope everyone had a very, merry Christmas. Now it is off again for New Years!

Friends

A few days before Christmas we had Britt, Amber and their families up for dinner. Oh, how things have changed since those long ago, crazy, carefree college days! I couldn't believe all the kids we have between us all. It's so fun to see our kids playing together. I'm so grateful for friends. . . especially those OLD friends with whom there are so many memories.

The Jolly Old Elf

I think the picture really tells it all. . . Lola was none too thrilled to sit on Santa's lap. She has loved Santa all season but apparently not the real thing. She has somewhat recovered because she still walks around, toting this little picture saying, "nan-ta" and ho-ho-hoing.

Traditions. . .

When I think back on Christmases as I was growing up, I don't remember a ton, but I do have memories of the traditions our family had that signified Christmas. Heidi and Jamie inspired me to think about the traditions that mean Christmas in our little Stokes family. Here are a couple that Nate and I do with our kids:

• Last year I bought one of those gingerbread house kits from Costco. The boys loved it and I realized that it was not as impossible as I had once imagined. This year Jacks and Miles started asking about the gingerbread house making months ago.

• Every year on Christmas Eve day while we are busy with preparations, 'Santa's Elves' slip a wrapped Christmas book to each of our kids. Sometimes the gifts show up in the morning, at the foot of their beds, sometimes throughout the day the kids will notice them under the tree. It has given us quite a collection of Christmas books that stay packed in a box all year round until the day after Thanksgiving. The kids love picking one book to read each night throughout the season and it keeps all of us in the spirit of the holiday.
  

• We have a tiny manger for baby Jesus that we fill with straw throughout the month. Whenever anyone does a good deed, whether in secret or not, they add a piece of straw to the manger. Hopefully by Christmas Eve, the manger is full. The kids run to check it Christmas morning to see if the baby Jesus has come to lay in his manger.

• We do a sub-4-Santa every year. This year I think Jacks finally grasped the concept and he took it so seriously. It was so sweet to see him in search of the perfect gift at the store.
  

• Nate and I always open our gifts to each other Christmas Eve night after all the Santa jobs are done. I love having a moment alone with him, aside from the chaos that Christmas morning brings.

• We have a lot of little traditions like: Christmas jammies, Temple Square lights, my moms famous Gooey Buns for breakfast Christmas morning, Gingerbread cookies, Christmas Light drives and nothing but Christmas music from Thanksgiving day on!

I want to hear everyone else's Christmas traditions. So if you're reading this post, you must leave a comment with at least one tradition (even you blog readers that never leave me a lovely comment!).

The Woes of Being the Mom

Last night Jackson excitedly asked me if I had Young Womens. When I told him I did not, he was very distraught. I was a bit confused because normally my kids have an unnatural attachment to me. Then he told me that he likes it when I go to Young Womens because dad lets them do all kinds of things that I don't. I think his exact words were, "dad's more fun than you, mom."

Upon further investigation, I managed to find out that Jackson's real issue was that Nate had bought the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and since I had already told Jacks he was not allowed to watch it until his 7th birthday, dad was sure to let him. Nate always does things like this - every night I'm gone they watch some sort of crazy, non-age appropriate movie! I should have realized it the day we had Jacks and Nate vowed that he was going to be the "cool" parent. Dang - we have arrived.

Family Pictures

So it took Nate's parents planning it for me to get up the courage for the dreaded family picture. I tend to stress beyond belief about everyone's clothing and then the day of, no one cooperates and I am so un-thrilled with the results. Nate and I end up hating each other before the event is over and usually have to stoop to bribing our children just to get a mediocre picture!

This year I even went so far as to make my Christmas card over 2 months ago because I was so sure I would NOT be up for family pictures. That's what I get for planning ahead - sometimes it is far better to procrastinate.

Anyway, so here are a few (ok maybe a few too many) pictures from our photo day. I am pleasantly surprised with the results. I love it when things go better than expected!