Upon special request to the big guy, Santa came a little early to our house this year, since we needed to leave town on Christmas Eve morning. So we officially celebrated and opened our presents on the 23rd, giving the girls a chance to finish off their chocolate Advent calendars early (they did not argue on this point...). The night before was our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas family program. Jocelyn was given the assignment of decorating the Christmas Eve dinner table, and she took the job VERY seriously. She chose a festive tablecloth, and cut decorative placemats out of green wrapping paper. Though you can't tell, she also cut our napkins into creative Christmas shapes, like candy canes and snowmen. We enjoyed a simple dinner of tacos and key lime pie for dessert.
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Maisy shows off her new pjs
and her new haircut! |
After dinner, the girls got to open their new Christmas pjs. Then, we followed a Black Family tradition where each child performs a talent of some kind. Maisy sang a song called "When Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney," then Jeni and Joss each sang a song while they accompanied themselves on the piano. We then watched "The Nativity" and talked about why we celebrate Christmas and why we exchange gifts at this special time of year. Then we looked at our Christmas scrapbook with pictures of every Christmas our family has had together. Finally, the girls set out cookies and milk for Santa.
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| Jenica shows appreciation for her new pajamas. |
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| Jocelyn sang and played "Jingle Bells" on the piano. In French, Jingle Bells translates as "Live the Wind, Live the Wind, Live the Wind of Winter! I guess that's....something." |
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| These will be full of yummy treats tomorrow! |
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| The girls love to see all our past Christmas memories |
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| Can't forget the carrots and lettuce for the reindeer! |
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| "Christmas" morning--(on December 23rd) |
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| Jeni couldn't believe she got FOUR Kinder eggs in her stocking! |
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| Maisy watiting patiently to open her stocking. She loved seeing her name written in Santa's fancy red writing. |
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Jocelyn was so excited about all the zhu-zhu pet accessories she got so she could
keep building their New Hamsterdam city. |
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Friends and Family-we also thought of all of you!
You are in our hearts just as much as you are on our door.
Thanks for the pictures and the well wishes. |
Merry Christmas Everyone!! We love you!
2 comments:
I think that is was pretty cool that you got Christmas a day early. I hope that they did good on that talent show thing. Did they have a good Christmas! I miss you .
Signed,
Carter
Tacos. For Christmas Eve dinner on not yet Christmas Eve. Yeah, I think that shows that we OWNED Christmas this year. The girls were really into the Christmas spirit. My favorite part was the night before (when there were about 12 total presents under the tree). We reminded them it would be a light Christmas this year (a trip instead), and their response: "What are you talking about--there are TONS of presents there?" They are also catching the spirit of giving SO much more, thinking of friends, families, and even strangers. By next year, they should be able to GIVE me endless plates of sugar cookies, and then I'll know I've made it. Wonderful Christmas this year, and glad we could be together for it.
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