Christmas in Kingwood

We had so much fun celebrating with all of the Saxes on Christmas and the day after out in Kingwood! We ate lots of yummy foodm, got lots of rest and had a blast spending time with family. The day after Christmas, we did "Christmas morning" all over again where Micah got any and every ninja turtle thing imaginable that he hadn't already gotten from us along with legos and lots of other fun stuff and Laurel (in her true girly fashion) got princess barbies, a jewelry box with her name on it (and full of play jewelry) a double stroller for her twins and then some. Both kids also got Kindle Fires which have been tons of fun. David and I were spoiled as well but David was most excited about his new bike! We have already gone on a few family bike rides. It's pretty fun getting to celebrate Christmas 3 times over the course of one week! 

Christmas Morning {2013}

I have never seen Micah so excited as he was on Christmas morning. He totally gets Christmas and Santa and all the fun and he could NOT wait to see what Santa brought. So much so that he was up at 5am. Luckily he went back to sleep but by 7am we couldn't put him off any longer. He and Laurel ran out and all that was sitting out was their stockings (their big present was outside). We thought they'd be asking for their big present but they were thrilled with just their stockings! Santa had left them a note on special North Pole paper that was mostly words Micah could read so he read it to Laurel. The note told them that they needed to go outside to see their big big present...

When they went outside, they were shocked and very very very excited to see a giant trampoline in their back yard! It is so much fun and they have been jumping on it every day since getting it. After jumping for a while, we all headed back inside to open gifts and eat breakfast...

... We had the same thing for breakfast that we did last year, homemade cinnamon rolls and "candy cane" fruit. It looks like this will be our Christmas morning tradition since the kids specifically asked for it.  After our morning at home, we headed to Kingwood to spend the rest of Christmas with family. 

Christmas Eve {2013}

Last year, we started our family tradition where we are home on Christmas Eve so the kids wake up at our house on Christmas morning. The bonus to this tradition is that we get to go to our church for Christmas Eve service! We love our church and always love the Christmas Eve service. This year, we were asked to read again as a family. Being on stage doesn't phase David (and apparently Laurel) but Micah and I get very nervous! He was going to recite some of the verses (because he had already learned them at school) but was too nervous before going out on the stage. I totally sympathized with him. Laurel didn't mind being on the stage one bit and didn't get nervous at all. 

After church, we went home to set out milk and cookies for Santa and the kids said their goodbyes to David (the elf). 

Christmas in College Station {2013}

This is the last of the Christmas posts! We went up to College Station the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with my side of the family. Each of the grandkids was getting one big gift this year so Suzu created a scavenger hunt for each of them to find their gift. It was a huge hit and they had so much fun! 

Micah Man got a bike and Laurel got the American Girl Bitty Twins

Sadie and Charlotte got a Barbie Jeep

As always when we visit College Station, we had a great time with family!

 We also got a little glimpse of what these girls might look like in 12 years and it was quite frightening. They are already trouble when they are together!

Breakfast with Santa

One of my favorite annual Christmas traditions is our breakfast with Santa! This was our 3rd year and as always, we had so much fun. We had a new "Santa" this year and he did such a great job sitting and talking with the kids. Laurel, who has always been terrified of Santa, even warmed up to him and sat on his lap. She started to panic at first but calmed down pretty quick. Micah couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap and tell him about all of the Ninja turtle stuff he wanted. Now that we all have school schedules, we are going to have to start getting creative about when we do this little shin-dig but I hope that it is a tradition that continues for years to come!

 

Happy Birthday Jesus

For the last few years, our Sunday School class has hosted a Happy Birthday Jesus party/play date up at our church. We always have a blast celebrating Jesus' birthday!

Celebration {2013}

One of the highlights of our family's Christmas season is being a part of Celebration at our church! For the last couple of years, I have loved helping with decorating the church and making it a festive and welcoming environment and then David enjoys being a part of the production. This year, he was in a few different scenes but also played the parts of Joseph and crucified Jesus. He did such a great job but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him in costume. This was Laurel's first year to get to watch and she loved it. Me and the kids got to go twice, with both sides of the family. If you live in Houston and have never been to Celebration, I highly recommend it! The cast and crew are taking the year off next year but we are already looking forward to 2015!