Not much to say...we did Christmas in our usual fashion. A trip up north to visit the Crain side for a few days and to celebrate at their annual Christmas party. Then back home at 1 a.m. on Christmas day to have a little family time and then celebrate with my side. It was crazy as always, but fun. Adding a second child will definitely make next Christmas a bit more interesting....
Row 1: our christmas tree // pretty packaging// relaxing in washington // train set // christmas lights
Row 2: lights // advent reading // work party // stockings // gifts
Row 3: cousins // grammie love // decor // stevee // picking out xmas tree
Row 4: singing at church // xmas at the capitol // cheeeeese // manger scene // repeat train set
This was our first official year without Santa. Last year we decided that doing the whole Santa thing just didn't work for our family. This year solidified that decision. Ironically, Eden was OBSESSED with the bearded man. Made for a few laughs. We just treat Santa like Mickey Mouse...he's imaginary, but we haven't seen the harm in letting her have fun watching Christmas movies and such. We are definitely not at a point where we are going to hole up in our house and not let her out for fear of the jolly man. No way. We didn't go sit on his lap (might be creepy if we all sat on his lap anyway), but we think the discussion of Saint Nicholas is a good one so we are all for the fun of it all as long as the focus stays on our Savior.
I think we had a great balance this year. We had a list of things we would like to do. Not HAVE to, just if the time was right and it worked out we would do a few of the traditions. I was a little disheartened by some of the things I heard this holiday season. Many moms throwing mini fits about how this or that went wrong and they didn't get to do everything on their list. PEOPLE. This is not what Christmas is about. It's taken me 28 years to get to that point, but I am so glad that my focus has changed. This was the best Christmas. Not because we got a lot of new things or anything, but because we focused on Christ and doing traditions that helped us grow as a family. We didn't worry about gifts. Last year we did the whole something you want/need/read/wear thing, but this year we decided to focus on keeping the gifts to a maximum of three, just like the wise men brought baby Jesus. So, so good for our family and our wallets. It turned into a great way to remember that our Savior received three gifts, so why should we receive more? Besides, do any of us really NEED anything? I mean, seriously think about it. We all have an overabundance of stuff compared to the rest of the world. I know that no one in our family needed to add to the pile of stuff we already have. This helps keep gift giving intentional.
Basically this Christmas rocked in the best ways. It was the first year I happily put away the decor knowing that just because the holiday season was over, the whole point of Christmas was not. While it's fun to celebrate Jesus' birth on a special day each year, we really should be celebrating EVERY DAY. So, putting away the ornaments didn't mean Christmas was over at all. How refreshing.
Thank you Jesus for coming to earth as a man. Sacrificing your life for ours.
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