Christmas fun

This was the first year that Porter really understood what Christmas was all about. He might have understood it last year but it was right after the babies were born and we were getting ready to move so I didn't spend any time talking about Christmas - we didn't even decorate. Lame, I know. So this year I really tried to get in the holiday spirit. Right after we got home from Thanksgiving I decorated the house (we didn't get a real tree because I didn't want to deal with having the girls always getting into it and trying to eat the ornaments, so we just used our little fake tree and put it up on a table), we were always listening to and singing Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, reading Christmas books, talking about Santa and the birth of Jesus, etc. Having Porter understand things really made Christmas fun this year. I can only imagine how much more fun it will get each year. Here is some of the Christmas fun we had:

Sledding isn't exactly just a Christmas thing, but close enough. This was our first year really living in snow so we were living it up. Our front yard slopes so we built a ramp at the top and had a nice little sledding track going on. Unfortunately it has warmed up since then so most of the snow is gone. But it's not even January yet so I'm pretty sure we'll be able to build another ramp soon :)

This was at our ward party.

The first time the girls saw Santa. Well, you can tell how that went.

Jeff got a buy one get one free coupon for the Cruise to the North Pole that is on Lake Coeur d'Alene and since the kids were free all five of us got to go on it for the price of one. Not bad. The resort is all decorated and the boats are decorated with the workers all dressed up as elves, then the boat takes you to Santa's workshop in the North Pole and Santa talks to all the kids and reads the "good list" that has all the kids' names that were on the boats. Then there's more music and more lights. Can you tell that Porter liked it?

This was our Christmas card picture this year. Jeff's work had one day where they had Santa and Mrs. Claus set up for pics so of course we had to take the kids there. This Santa was much better and having Mrs. Claus there helped. The girls had no problem this time.

Our Christmas morning set up. Actually, we didn't have the remote control car out when Porter came down the stairs. We had it hidden and he opened up a present with the remote in it so when he pushed the trigger on the remote control the car came out of a box. It ran right into the girls and freaked Scarlet out - way cute and funny.



Our advent calendar. I love how Porter grouped all like items together - a little OCD don't ya think? ha ha

Porter running down the stairs Christmas morning.

When we got married Jeff had a different wedding ring. Then he lost a lot of weight after Porter was born and it didn't fit anymore, so he ended up getting a new ring for about $25 (he got a great deal online) made of tungsten steel which is really hard and difficult to scratch. Over the years that kept sounding appealing to me. I love my wedding ring and think it's beautiful, but the diamonds/setting can get loose, I get junk stuck under the main diamond and in between the little ones so I have to get it cleaned, and I scratch the kids with it every now and then. So this Christmas I asked for a tungsten steel ring like Jeff's so that I don't have to worry about losing a diamond or getting it scratched or scratching the kids with it. Jeff got it for me and now we have the same ring. That may sound weird but I like that. And if I lose the ring or anything we are only out about $25. I love it!

I had a great Christmas. We all got good things, we gave good things, and had a great time. This was our first Christmas just the 5 of us and I think that we will be keeping it that way from now on. We are starting our own little traditions. Christmas Eve we had delicious tamales and of course sparkling cider, then Christmas morning we had eggs and chorizo. Good times. In January we are going to Southern California to have Christmas with Jeff's family so we are getting 2 Christmases this year. Can't wait to be with his family and continue the festivities!