Our Christmas

We had a quiet Christmas at home, which I loved.  It was so fun to take traditions from each side of our family, add a few of our own, and enjoy the holiday with our little family.

: Sunday before Christmas :

I think this was the first time we were in Indiana for our ward Christmas program.  It was fabulous!

On Christmas Eve, we decorated a little gingerbread house...

and cookies for Santa:)

(J did the gingerbread man and Cody did the gingerbread lady using Brielle as his model;)

 

We did a Jerusalem theme for our Christmas Eve dinner.

(pita bread, chicken, fish, fresh fruits, steamed veggies, cheeses, nuts, cider, etc.)

We talked about Christ's birth and life as we tried to imagine what it must have been like back then.

Jaden loved dressing up.  Bri loved the food, but not so much her costume:)

We bundled up in our Christmas jammies and took the kiddos for a little drive to look at the lights.

We listened to the polar express book on cd, and Jaden fell right to sleep.  Bri was mesmerized by all the lights and stayed awake throughout the drive.

Santa was up late setting up a kitchen set and bike.  

Well worth the kiddos reactions in the morning though:)

We had SOOO much fun opening the gifts and seeing all the excitement.

We finished off with our stocking hunts before settling down for our breakfast feast.

breakfast casserole, hot cocoa, fruit and my all time favorite, swedish butter ring, were on the menu that morning

It was my first time making them on my own, and they were quite delicious I must say.  This is probably my favorite Christmas tradition; I could eat them every day of the year if I had the choice!

We found a tiny 2 lb ham for our Christmas day feast.  Along with potato casserole, homemade rolls, beans, and salad it was just perfect.  It was different just the four of us, but simply sweet.  The days following seemed too quiet without the extended family around and Cody returning to work, but lazy days at home are needed every now and then:)

Merry (belated) Christmas!