All done decorating the tree YEAH!!
Christmas time this year has been just amazing, everything I hoped it would be with small children (minus all the chaos that comes with 3 little ones!). This was our first Christmas in our house and it has been everything I dreamed that it would be. Spending 7 Christmas seasons in a small apartment was very limiting, I just never knew how much. We kicked off the season by getting our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving. We got real size Christmas tree, no more Charlie Brown Christmas trees for us. It was so fun getting to put ALL of our ornaments as have instead of just a few. We got the tree after church and set it up with the lights while the kids napped so that when they woke up all we had to do was decorate. We put on some Christmas music, put the kids' Santa hats on and just sat back and watched as the kids danced endlessly in the Christmas lights. As we decorated the tree, Jacob of course was more excited to dance and less escited to put his ornaments on the tree (I think that is a typical boy). Emily however was SO excited. She wanted to know where each ornament came from (so me being a talker and loving talking about the past, I shared with Emily the story behind each ornament). Each morning following she would run downstairs while Jacob waited at the landing and would turn on the tree lights. Jacob would say "AAWW" with excitement and Emily would look at him so proudly to have gotten the response she was looking for.
As far as decorating the outside of the house, I was very eager as this would be our first year. Luckily our neighbors are very eager as well so we were all out there together decorating for the holidays. In this moment as I walked the cul-de-sac and watched my hubby on the roof with a neighbor I realized that we truly do live in the best neighborhood and that God has gi
ven us far more than we ever could have imagined in our house. It sounds so cheesy, however this holiday season with the indoor and outdoor decorations, trimming the tree and all that encompasses the Christmas time of year, I truly am so grateful for all of God's blessings however especially for the gift of our house, which truly is our HOME!For our Christmas holiday we drove up to Northern California for 10 days. We spent one day with my best friend Allie and her 3 kids, one day with my Grandpa, 4 days with My Parents and sister and 3 days with Rex's parents and brother and sisters and neice and nephew. It was alot of traveling but well worth it. I was so excited to have a chance to get to go see all of the people who are so very important in my life and that I want to have a vital role in the lives of my children. I was unsure of how the kids would do in the car that long but they all surprised with great attitudes (we are very grateful for a car DVD for those times when everyone is just about at their end). Jacob who is known as our more restless sleeper did GREAT everywhere we went. Of course being the early riser that he is kept up with his trend but atleast he slept through the night. One of my more memeorable moments was Jacob getting up with my dad each morning at 5:0o and my dad would share his breakfast with Jacob and let Jakie pal around with him while he got ready for work: Brushing teeth together, feeding the dog etc all to allow Rex and I an extra hour of sleep...THANK YOU DADDY! At my Grandpa's house the kids were spoiled with so much attention, toys and fun activities including a truck bed full of snow! Jacob quickly learned the reward of asking each adult for milk in order to receive more milk in one day than most kids have in a week! Taylor was her typical content self allowing everyone to enjoying holding her so peacefully. With my girlfriend Allie I was just so content enjoying sitting on the couch visiting while all 6 kids played so well together...I live for those moments! When we arrived to my parents house we drove there in the dark and when we arrived their beautiful newly built home was all lit up and you could see it from the main road. It was just beautiful! With wreaths lit up all along the porch and a Christmas tree in each of the big windows facing the front it just looked amazing! Of course it was late at night and all 3 kids were awake but we needed to get the complete tour. I felt such a sense of pride as I walked through the house and saw all of the detail and design that my dad created for his very own 5300 sq ft house. Yeah for him. IT was such a blessing to see his gifts and talents and to get to see him live out his dream. To top it all off, Rex and I had our very own room (our first in 7 years of marriage at my parents') and nobody had to be kicked out of their room or office for us or the kids YEAH!!!! Emily LOVED baking cookies with Grandma and decorating them with Auntie Laura. Emily even offered Grandma an icing covered cookie that she didn't want herself (trust me just looking at this cookie gave you a tummy ache). To end the trip we were at Rex's family's house for Christmas weekend. I couldn't believe the kids' excitement to be going to yet another house. While there Emily and Jacob got ot play with their cousins Eli and Bryn. It was so special watching them play with each other and wow, it made our jobs a lot easier! Our weekend was complete with Christmas carols, a Happy Birthday Jesus cake (although Emily was quite confused as to why we were singing to Jesus if he wasn't there), tons of games each night and just some great time with our family. It was a long trip, our kids were so resiliant and we drove home feeling so extremely rich with the amount of love, support and many, many blessings we have received this Christmas Season.
Taylor sneaking in a nap!
