Christmas 2012

So, here it is the end of January, and my last blog post was from mid-November.  Sigh.  In between there were a million memories made and captured (hello, holidays), but alas, there was also a computer crash.  I have almost managed to gather all the pics scattered among the many devices they were taken on (kill me), and, without further adieu, Christmas 2012:

 Ben picked the tree out all by himself this year.

It was really fun decking the halls of the new house for the first time.

 Jess and I both wondered if this was the last year Ben would believe.  Hope not, but we savored the magic and wonder of Santa all the more, just in case.

 

 Boys' Church Christmas Concert.  Noah in his choir robe - the cuteness absolutely slays me.

 Eliza was not thrilled about the Pink Pig, which was puzzling because she's all about pink and trains.  But on the way home she conked out, developed a really high fever, and turns out our poor girl had pneumonia!  Hopefully she'll be in better spirits for Priscilla next year.

 Holiday lights at the Botanical Garden.

 

 Of course we had to visit Santa and tell the big man what was atop our lists ...

and with a 2-year-old, I was right back in that Santa picture.

We met up with Ava and Eli for a train ride and dinner.

 One of my favorite holiday traditions has become our annual Polar Express PJ Party.  Love these kiddos so much!

We went down and spent the day with Jess's family just before Christmas.  It's always so much fun to be on Aunt Julie and Uncle Justin's farm - chickens to feed, a big dog to play fetch with, and lots of uncles who'll play football all day long.  Really, a boy's dream.  And there were awesome presents to boot!

 We love Miss Kristen

and Aunt Julie Ann!

Christmas Eve brought lots of excitement.  We headed off to church:

 And then came home, put on our PJs, and the kids opened their gifts from each other.

Daddy read the bible story of Jesus' birth,

and we left out our plate of cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

I've been, over the past few years, leaning toward the notion of less is more in terms of gifts.  This year especially, I really tried to make the season about experiences --  spending time together, celebrating Christ's birth, and GIVING.  I was particularly convicted after watching this remarkable  video.  As one of our pastors put it, "I'm appalled, and if you're not, then you didn't watch it."  And, oh, I was.  And am.  And all this is to say, we decidedly gave our kids less this year, and it was wonderful.  They actually noticed, but not at all in a disappointed way.  I'm going to try to pare down even more next year.  It truly felt that with less stuff to receive, there was more room to give.

Some highlights of our Christmas morning: