Christmas 2015

This past Christmas was quiet and small. Kate and Ethan were away, we won't see Grandmom and Grandad until next month, so it was just the four of us and Grandma and Grandpa. Still, we delighted in our traditions and had a lot of fun with it.

A week or so before Christmas, Hope and I participated in the annual "White Christmas" viewing with my parents and Kate. She was much more into the story this year than in the past, but of course everybody watches that movie for the songs and dancing!

We got the tree and the house decorated a little earlier than usual, trying to make it 'feel' like Christmas. I guess the warm weather made it hard to feel festive for awhile. But once the lights and the tree were up, it helped!

Christmas Eve service at church was sweet, as it always is. The children's pastor read a great story and issued a clear, age-appropriate message about helping people in practical ways, just like Jesus. Afterward, we went out for Chinese food and tried our best to take a family photo ...

Christmas morning was so fun, of course! Hope and Grant have been so into Harry Potter that their wish lists were loaded with Hogwarts trinkets, magic wands, and all kinds of Harry Potter toys. They can be difficult to buy for (because they have everything, and they don't really play with toys the way a lot of kids do), but I think they were very happy with what we got them!

Hope also got this Poogle Mom shirt, which I can hardly believe they actually sold on Amazon. It was wrapped up to Hope, from Annie :)

Right after Christmas Uncle Bill, Aunt Cathy, Grandma Pickle, Josie and Hannah came to visit. As usual, I barely saw Hope and Grant during that time because they spent every moment they could with their cousins - who, now that they're 13, are incredibly sweet to still play school and the other pretend games they all play together!

All in all, it was a very nice holiday and we enjoyed the time off school. Daddy even took the whole week off work, which was a wonderful treat for us! Hope and Grant weren't quite ready to go back, and I wasn't ready to send them back either. I guess that's the mark of a well-spent week off!