Saturday, January 24, 2009

Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning '08


One tradition I remember my family doing several years when I was younger was turning off all the lights in the house and only having candlelight coming from many, many candles. With my young children, I'm a little too nervous to follow this tradition completely. But thanks to the beautiful centerpiece we got from Faith and Les, we were able to eat our Christmas Eve dinner just from the soft glow of the Christmas tree and the light of the centerpiece candle. It was really quite magical and the kids l-o-v-e-d it! Maybe we've started a new tradition of our own...

Did I just hear Santa's sleigh outside??? Quick, kids! Get upstairs to bed!
And....here they are below...pictures from Christmas morning. By 6 a.m. I couldn't stand it any longer and Brett let me get the kids up! I was just too excited! We'd told them they had to stay in their rooms until 7:00, and being the sweet kids they are, they were being obedient, but Halle and Wyatt were already awake when I went to get them!
Wyatt was so excited to get one of their favorite-of-favoritest movies, "George of the Jungle"! He even did a little dance to celebrate.
Wyatt Earp?
Wyatt was so antsy for Brett to open up the gift Wyatt had bought for him at the dollar store: Cookie Dough mix. Made with artificially-flavored chocolate chips. YUM-MY!
John and Dixie gave us something so great...
tickets to see WICKED at Capitol Theatre this spring!
Dixie's so clever...the note about the tickets was attached to this
awesome Halloween decoration!

Every year Brett gets me a new calendar. It's something I look forward to receiving from each Christmas--he always chooses something beautiful. This year it was Robert Duncan. And that little purple envelope? Oh...nothing special...only a MASSAGE GIFT CERTIFICATE!!!! Thanks, hon!


2008 will be remembered as the year we realized our daughter watches too much "Extreme Home Makeover". Her reaction to every single gift was uber-dramatic and over-the-top, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"
I love this picture below. It's that moment that every parent waits for at Christmastime.
Halle's really gotten into the idea of cooking lately. My mom made her the most adorable apron. It's seriously soooooo stinkin' cute! Halle had been using an old Strawberry Shortcake one that I'd had when I was little, but she was kind of outgrowing it. I love this because it's her size, it's perfect for a girl, but Halle loves it because it doesn't look "baby-ish". Thanks, Mom! She also gave her this darling gift bag with brownie mix and a mini-spatula in it.
The boys got this tent from Santa...it does wonders for the imagination!

Carson loved his farm
Say CHEESE!

3 comments:

joyce.kremin said...

Thanks for sharing the pictures and it even seemed like we were there sharing the time with you. I love what you're doing with the family and the family traditions..some years it might be hard to do everything that has always been done, but that isn't the end, and they will last their lifetime and on to their children. that is the part of the heritage we pass on through the generations. Luv, Mom

Jen said...

Yayyyy! I got an apron AND tickets to see WICKED for Christmas, too!! Happy day! :)

Wendy Kremin said...

What a darling family. The cutest kids! We love you guys. Let's get together soon. WEndy

"The democracy will cease to exist when you TAKE AWAY from those who are willing to work AND GIVE to those who would not."



Thomas Jefferson