Before we get too far into 2018, I wanted to document the wonderful holiday season we had this year. I would say this was one of the most magical Christmas' we've ever had. The boys are at such wonderful ages and everything about Christmas is so wondrous and exciting. In fact, they're still singing Christmas carols on a regular basis and we're in mid-January! Apparently this year's holiday had a big impact on them! I tried really hard to soak up this holiday and be present. And I think I did a pretty good job. I didn't feel overly busy or stressed about all the stuff we had going on or had to get done. It probably helped that I took the whole week off work before Christmas to rejuvenate and have time to finish shopping, wrap, etc. Not being stressed really allowed me to gratefully observe the joy in our boys' eyes with all the favorite traditions around Christmas and to immerse in those things along with them. I felt like a kid again myself!
So here's the recap of Christmas 2017 season:
We started December off as we usually do by going to Keith & Scott Tree Farm to pick out our tree. We found the perfect one for Cameron too! :)
Next up was the Symphony Tiny Tots Christmas concert same as we went to last year with Nana and Pops. It's always a sweet little show with musical instruments and catchy songs. Perfect for toddlers who don't last long sitting in a theater seat.
Right after the concert, James and I had the wonderful opportunity to do our annual Christmas shopping date while Nana and Pops watched the boys. This year we chose to "shop small" and spent the day on Bainbridge Island. They have the greatest toy store, book store and cute boutique shops. Plus it was just so fun to walk around town and enjoy the sunny day. Unfortunately we couldn't complete our whole list and still had to do a trip to Toys R Us, but it wasn't too bad. :) Unfortunately I failed and didn't capture any photos that day.
I also forgot to mention that before Thanksgiving we did another one of our favorite traditions this time of year: visit Molbaks. I always love their beautiful holiday decor including the gorgeous poinsettias!
Our church does a really cute children's Christmas play every year. This year Nate played a shepherd and Cam played a sheep for the Jesus birth story.
By far one of our most favorite traditions is the Santa Train through the Snoqualmie railroad. And this year lived up to our expectations as usual complete with home baked cookies, visiting Santa, and the best part--the train ride!
One extra special treat for me was getting to volunteer for Nathan's class winter party. I never get a chance to help out or be in his classroom with my full time work schedule. But since I took an extra week off, I was able to finally help out! They decorated Christmas trees for the party and I think more of the candy ended up in Nate's mouth instead of on his tree. I stayed a little longer and also got to eat lunch with him in the cafeteria with all his friends. Kindergarteners are hilarious! I was cracking up!
We spent one afternoon baking and decorating yummy sugar cookies with Nana and Pops. The boys really helped out this year both with cutting out shapes and decorating with frosting and sprinkles.
And then that night we braved the cold and the rain and did the zoo lights at Woodland Park Zoo. We hadn't done that for a couple of years and it was really fun! They are pretty creative with how they create all the animals and set up the lights to make it look like the animals are moving!
Finally the main event was here! We spent Christmas Eve with Nana and Pops picking up our Christmas danish from Nielsen's bakery in Seattle, attending their church and having a yummy beef tenderloin dinner at their house along with opening presents.
Christmas morning was one of my most favorite times. It had started snowing the night before and we actually woke up to a white Christmas! I've only had maybe 2-3 white Christmases in my whole life. The boys couldn't believe it!
The boys hurried downstairs to find presents under the tree covered with a sheet (tradition from when I was a kid). Just like my parents made us do, the boys had to have a little breakfast. Then we read the Jesus birth story. Finally then we did our stockings and he presents under the tree after much anticipation.
Santa exceeded our expectations and gave the boys exactly what they asked for when they sat on his lap. Nathan got a Lego train set that's electric! And Cameron got a red race car that has a remote control. Other popular items this year were Star Wars x-fighter and tie-fighter toys, Ninjago Legos, books, train track stuff, Darth Vader rain boots, Playmobil toys, puzzles, and Transformers.
The rest of the day was spent with the Spauldings. Together we took our time opening stockings and presents and just enjoyed each other's company and some yummy food (prime rib!). There were a couple of big surprises too. Nathan got to go on a treasure hunt and at the end found a real life fish! We now have a new family member! Batman is a betta fish and the newest member of our family. Cameron also got to go on a treasure hunt and found a Blaze Island toy set! (Blaze is a Monster truck in a show on tv). For both boys, Grampa found this wonderful old electric train set that he bought from someone. The boys were enamored with it and now they ask all the time to go to Gramma and Grampa's to play with the train.
Gosh looking back it really was a special (and busy!) month. But so many wonderful memories and fun stories to tell. Right now we're in the perfect window with our boys' ages--they believe everything and are so enthusiastic about everything related to Christmas. I know these years are limited and will go quickly. Thankfully I feel like we really soaked up Christmas 2017. Can't wait to do it all again next year!
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