Christmas

We hosted Christmas Eve this year with my family. We were joined by the McNutts, Baerwaldts, and my parents. Plus we also invited our friends the Butlers to join us.

We enjoyed some Mexican food, acted out the Nativity, had the annual fish pond, and enjoyed some desserts.

The 3 Wisemen

                                                              Getting ready to start.

                                                        Mary and Joseph

                                                                  Fishing for gifts!

                                                             Christmas jammies

 

Christmas morning. The boys were so excited that they started asking me at 3am if they could open presents. It didn't help that Brady was up and sick that early. But Nathan said he was too awake to go back to sleep and proceeded to bug me every 30minutes. Finally around 7:30 Colin woke up and we let the boys go out front to the tree.

That afternoon Dave's family came over and joined us for a prime rib dinner. The food was fantastic and we had a great visit.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas program

Every year the elementary school puts on a Christmas program. It was enjoyable as it always is. Nathan surprised me this year by being really into his performance. all the kids around him were just going through the motions and there he was full hip swaying fun! I loved it.

After the program, Kindergarten and 1st grade decorated gingerbread houses.

Christmas at Disneyland

This year for Christmas my SILs invited me to join them on a trip to Disneyland. At first I wasn't sure if I would be able to go because 3 weeks earlier I went in for surgery to have my gallbladder removed after a gallbladder attack sent me to the ER. The recovery was actually harder then I expected and I was still pretty sore two weeks after. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to handle the stress of walking around the whole park. But when it was time for the trip I was feeling better. I was a little sore on the 2 morning but nothing that a little medicine couldn't help with. Also since my parents are moving this was the last time I would have easy babysitting available to make a trip like this on short notice. I am so glad I decided to go. It was so much fun and Disney at Christmas time is just magical.
We used the new Max pass through the Disney app and it was totally worth the extra $10 per day. No more running around the park trying to collect fast passes. We just collected them through the app and basically never had to stand in line. The park was more crowded then I ever think I have seen it and we avoided almost all the lines using the new system it was awesome.


DAY 1:
                                        Haunted Mansion: The Nightmare before Christmas

                                                                 Matterhorn

                                             Waiting for the Christmas Parade

                                               Getting into the Disney Christmas Spirit!

                                                     The lights are amazing at night.

 Day 2:
                                                 

 We ran into Gamora and StarLord on the street outside the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride(which is awesome by the way!)

                                                  Canoe ride around Tom Sawyer Island

                                          Our finally site of our trip: Its a Small World
Watching them light up the ride was just magical. You could hear the whole crowd gasp in amazement. Just spectacular!

It's Christmas Time

They day after Thanksgiving we went to a local Christmas tree farm. It was wonderful. There were tons of tall trees and all trees were the same price. We winded up getting the very first tree I saw that was full and tall. I made everyone look at other trees, but in the end none of them were as perfect as the first.

The following Saturday we headed to Bass pro shop to meet Santa. They were really busy and when we got there and signed in there was a 4 hr wait to meet Santa. Definitely a lot busier then last year. Dave said it was because we went so earlier in the season, last year we didn't go until closer to Christmas. They had a new system started at the store, where you signed into a tablet and then they sent you a text message when it was time for you to get in line to see Santa. We spent about 1 1/2 hrs exploring the store and making the free craft while we waited. By then it was lunch time so we went over to Red Robin for lunch. The wait was really long and by the time we got our food and had finished eating I got a text that it was time to get in line for Santa. I believe we only ended up waiting about 3 1/2hrs total.  It actually worked out really well because we didn't actually have to wait in a line at all. We walked right in, waited behind one other family, and got to see Santa right away. Of course by then it was way past Colin's bed time and he would have nothing to do with Santa. But really with how clingy he is, he probably wouldn't have gotten near Santa even if he wasn't tired. The boys had a great time. And we were all very ready to head home by then.

                                                                Free Craft

             This is what Colin did, When we finally got in line for Santa. He was done!

 

The following day the boys both wrote letters to Santa. They're list are a little unrealistic this year, let's hope they are happy without getting the $500 Lego set they both want, haha.