Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas 2012

Our Winter Break didn't start until the weekend before Christmas.  We had Jason's family's gathering on that Saturday.  Here are just a few pictures of our time together.
The cousins!



The Isaac family's dinner tradition is to snack on appetizers all afternoon and then finish off with soups: Mom's amazing Clam Chowder, and our Tortellini Soup.
It is actually really hard to coordinate schedules, believe it or not, so it is truly cherished when our whole family can be together.

Christmas Eve is our family's get-together.  We have loved having Jason's mom join us for the past few years.  After our traditional meal (Jason makes an incredible beef tenderloin), we go to our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service.  When we get back, we have cookies and hot chocolate and listen to the Christmas story before opening our gifts.  This year, we actually had the kids reenact the Christmas story using our Fisher-Price nativity set.  We really like opening gifts on Christmas Eve because then Santa doesn't get all the credit!  We've made it clear that we give each other gifts to remember that God actually gave us the ultimate gift in the birth of his son, Jesus.  We've tried for years not to get caught up in the commercialism of the season, and hopefully, our kids will remember the reason for the season as each year goes by. 

 Since we got Jeremy a light saber, of course we had to get Grace one, too.  Who else would he duel against?

Di Dao always gifts the kids a Christmas book, and this year, they also got toques and an Angry Birds game. We almost missed the last gift under our tree- it looked like just a piece of paper that the kids had colored, but it turns out that it was paper they colored and used to wrap their gift for us. Inside were tons and tons of snowflakes that the two of them had made.  We have no idea when they did all of this! Grace taught Jeremy how to make snowflakes, and after they were made, they wrapped them and put them under our tree.  They were so excited to see us open up their gift.  "Look what we made you!"  I teared up- this gift is one to treasure... It was a gift that was truly filled and given with love. I was so touched!  Our kids showed that they DO understand what it means to give!!!!  I definitely will never forget these snowflakes...
In the morning, we enjoy breakfast together before we see what Santa has left in the kids' stockings.
 For Christmas Day this year, we hung out at home.  Jeremy put together some of his new Lego sets (he impressed us by needing minimal help with what looked complicated for a 5 year old) and Grace played with her new Just Dance on Wii.  It was a blast watching her, Jason, and Grandma take turns dancing!  Later in the afternoon, we headed to the movies and saw Wreck It Ralph.  There were a few scary scenes and some inappropriate language, but overall, it was good. 

Such a fun few days celebrating Christmas!  I am so thankful and feel incredibly blessed!

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