Catching up: Christmas part 1

It's true, the Holidays have come and gone.  We are in 2011 and I've been thinking about some things I'd like to implement in the new year.  I'm not big on resolutions, but a fresh start to a new year seems the perfect time to think about areas for growth and change.  But, I'll have to save that for another post.  First, I have some Christmas catching up to do!

We had a wonderful Christmas.  It was fun and relaxing, full of good food, great company and sweet times with family.  We made some new family traditions and enjoyed watching the kids soak in all that this time of year has to offer.  We never tired of looking at Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music and talking about the Christmas story.  We read lots of great Christmas books and made lots of Christmas treats.

After the Christmas eve service at our church we headed to Hylke's parents house for a nice dinner with his parents and younger brother and family.  We even let Opa open one of his presents early.  This year I made a couple of gifts.  I don't sew...well, I didn't sew...until this year.  As I was browsing through a "homemade Christmas" gift idea book, I came across a great idea for Opa's Christmas present.  Hylke's parents live on a farm and his dad is always bringing in wood for the fire with just his hands.  So, I enlisted the help of a friend and asked her to do nothing more than provide her sewing machine, and guidance if I had any questions and made Opa a log carrier.  It was an easy project, but was so fun to do! It was extra fun because her machine has an embroidery option too.  It was fun to personalize a couple gifts this year!

The kids were very willing to help Opa unwrap his present

We stayed the night at Oma and Opa's house, and Noah could hardly wait to see if Santa brought what he asked for...you know the choo-choo underwear he asked for. :)  Really, he asked Santa to bring "choo-choo underwear".  He made it easy on Santa this year...and since Santa was already doing some online shopping at Gymboree for said choo-choo underwear he went ahead and bought some undies for E too.  They were both THRILLED!  Noah called my parents and said, "Santa brought me SO MUCH (3 pair) underwear!!!!!"  WOW.  Easy to please. :)

 Santa went ahead and threw in some guitar and dinosaur underwear too...he was extra generous this year. ;)

 Although she doesn't look overly excited in this picture, I assure you she was. :)

 Tomorrow....Christmas part 2