One day while grocery shopping, the kids saw a HUGE bag of peanuts on sale and asked if we could get it. We did, and while eating them for snack later that day, they began planning how they could make peanut butter with it. I was working on a project and the next thing I knew, they had shelled half the bag and were asking if they could use the food processor. They spent the rest of the afternoon creating their own little batches of peanut butter -- including a special chocolate - honey batch just for the Mr. They decided to wrap it and give it to him for Valentine's day.
I also had to take a picture of this because I'm getting so sentimental. Our neighbors, Cliff and Nancy Hatch, are honestly the best neighbors we could ever imagine. They keep an eye on things, help us with snow removal/mowing/etc whenever we need it, are always there for us, and even bring us a little plate of goodies for every holiday. We honestly could not have imagined better neighbors than them!!
New Year's Eve, the Mr. was working at a Portland Pirates Hockey Game, so we decided to join him, so we could ring in the new year as a family! :)
Here's the pirate himself!
The girls brought their cozy, snuggly blankets and kangaroo friends.
The game was not nearly as exciting as the other activities that went on in the stands. They passed around gigantic beach balls, and threw party toys out into the stands.
The girls enjoyed their party blowers and Grins scored a noisemaker!
The the most exciting part of the evening was indoor fireworks they did after the game~ Incredible!
Our Christmas day consisted of lots of eating, lounging around, playing with (and putting together) new toys, and just enjoying one another. It is so rare for our entire family to be together, it made it that much more special!
We have so many beautiful cathedrals near our home and had wanted to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, but were just too tired! So we decided to attend Christmas Mass. We didn't realize it, but we ended up attending an African service, so we didn't understand much of what was said, but it was a beautiful, touching service and we enjoyed it!
For Christmas Dinner, we had invited several of our new friends who are refugees from Africa, but they ended up not being able to make it. So, we enjoyed a nice, quiet dinner with our little family and our special friend Sarah Rowell, who is practically part of our family. :) That was probably just as well, since apparently Grins forgot his manners....
Here's Wiggles (note: she's wearing her brand new necklace from Oma)
After dinner, we sat around and snuggled beneath our incredibly soft, comfortable blankets (Christmas gifts from the wonderful Biesingers) and sang along with our new karaoke machine. It was SO much fun!!
We had a spectacular Christmas!! We felt very blessed to have The Mr. home with us, and the time together as a family was the best gift any of us could have hoped for! Of course, we missed our distant relatives dearly, but were grateful to be able to skype them - thank you, modern technology, for bridging the gap and making holidays so much happier when you're far from family!
Here are the children, the very first thing Christmas morning. They are allowed to open their stockings on their own, before the Mr. and I are up - so they got right to it! :)
Each child received a gift from Santa. Angel loved the backpack for her doll, Izzy!
Grins was super excited about his remote control helicopter!
And here is Wiggles, opening her gift....
All she asked for was a toy sword so she could have sword fights with Grins!
Of course, Grins wasted no time trying to get that helicopter in the air!
The kids were very excited to open a big package from Uncle Nay and Aunt Molly!
We recorded them opening it to show Nay and Molly.
Our Opa - The Mr's father - started a wonderful tradition where he did a treasure hunt on Christmas day, where each child found clues which led them around the house in search of their gifts. Since The Mr. hasn't been home on Christmas before this year, we hadn't done this before - so we started this year! It was SO much fun!! I had to get a bit creative, because this requires 4 gifts (one for each clue), and we only get our child one gift for Christmas (plus one from Santa) - but fortunately we received some hand-me-down books from a friend just before Christmas, which were the perfect addition to fill-in our Scavenger Hunt! :)
Wiggles looking at one of her clues. She got all picture clues - and she figured them out much faster than I did! :)
Angel's were much more difficult...
I guess I don't have any of Grins in the Scavenger Hunt....because this is how he looked most of the day:
Angel joined him shortly thereafter (she's become a big fan of Legos this year!)
Wiggles, enjoying her "Tangled" book
These two, still hard at work!
After we had opened presents, eaten far too many sweets, and played with toys, we headed downtown and passed out hot chocolate and Christmas treats to pan handlers and homeless people there. It was SO cold that most of them seemed very grateful for something hot to drink. And it was good experience for all of us to think of others. This year we have really tried to shift our focus away from gifts, and more toward Jesus, Charity and Service. I filled our advent calendar with a small act of service each day, rather than candy, and the kids and I had so much fun doing them! And Ollie, our "Elf on the Shelf", left ideas for kind acts of service we could do as well. It was amazing to watch the children forget themselves and their 'wish lists', and instead focus on what they could do for others. And our Christmas felt so much more meaningful to me, so it's definitely something we will continue - and improve on - each Christmas!
After going around town making our little deliveries, we attended Mass at the local cathedral. It happened to be an African congregation, so we got quite the show of music, drums, dancing, etc - with a beautiful sermon about Christ. It was wonderful.
We are so grateful for Christmas - for the wonderful opportunity it is to pause to remember Jesus; His birth, His life, His ministry and, of course, His sacrifice and death for us, to enable us to return to Heaven again someday. I'm also so grateful for the opportunity to have more time together as a family, with The Mr. We see him so rarely that having him home on Christmas day was such a rare and special treat! That alone made it a holiday in my book! :)
This Christmas eve was pretty uneventful, except that The Mr. was actually home on Christmas Eve for the first time I can remember!! So we enjoyed staying home together, wrapping gifts, passing out goodies to our neighbors, and, of course, leaving egg nog, cookies and a note out for Santa (and oatmeal and carrots for the reindeer).
Grins and Wiggles decided they wanted to sleep in the room with the fireplace so they could see Santa come down the chimney. Here they are, waiting for him. :):
Another of our favorite family Christmas traditions is to reenact the Nativity. (I realize this is probably everyone's family Christmas tradition - but it still feels special to me!)
This year, we were fortunate to have our good friends the Greenaways, the Missionaries, and our 'adopted Grandma' Sarah Rowell with us, so we had enough people for all of the parts, and an audience to watch as well! It was awesome!
Wiggles played her traditional role of Mary, riding on a Daddy Donkey and accompanied by Hamish who played Joseph.
Angel played - you guessed it - the Angel. She played the part perfectly!
Grins was a shepherd, and Elder Phillips (seated on the couch) was our narrator.
And Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart....
The Mr. doubled as King Herod and Elder Jessee was the Wise Man.
