Christmas Day 2019!

I feel like Christmas day needed its own post this year. There were many pictures. As an adult Christmas isn't as exciting in regards to looking forward to presents or Santa. However, there is nothing more exciting to me as a parent than watching your kids run down the stairs in anticipation of the gifts they would receive.

Christmas Eve we had my parents, Natalie, and Chris' family over for games and soup and we read the Christmas story. It was fun to have them come, and Cavin and Channing worked hard on their games where we had to make points in a cup and do a scavenger hunt to find the snowman pieces. 

Christmas morning we turned on the song "Deck the Halls" from the Mannheim Steamroller which my dad used to play every Christmas morning. When the music plays they can come down out of their rooms and Christmas begins. 

I love the stillness of the Christmas tree lighting the room before the excitement begins.  

They raced to see who would find the pickle first and Cavin was the lucky one.  

If you find the pickle first, you get to open the first present.  

Ella got many things this year, but her favorite was her new guitar. She loves music and wanted to learn the guitar as she already plays the piano and cello. She also got the new echo dot, her favorite book series, a bookshelf, jewelry, a blanket (she has an obsession with soft things and texture ;)), beanie boos, and other little token stuff.  

Cavin is always the one I am most worried about buying presents for. He has an idea of what he envisions Christmas morning to be like and sometimes I worry about matching it and not disappointing him. He got switch remotes, the Nintendo swich game Mario and Sonic Tokyo games, an echo dot, a bay blade stadium, rubix cube etc.   

He seemed happy, and together the boys grandparents on both sides gave them a basketball hoop which they were excited about! 

Deacon just wanted a basketball and cars. He is so easy. He never really wants toys, he just wants to play sports..how many balls can you buy him though??? 

Channing is the sweetest thing, she was excited to open her presents and happy about her gifts.  

She finally got her beloved Kindle she has been wanting for 3 years.  

She also got the American girl doll Blaire which she really wanted.  

She also got an art kit, art supplies, a unicorn case, a microphone, jewelry, and beanie boos.  

They had a fun morning and it was fun to watch them enjoy their gifts. 

I am grateful everyday for the family I get to call my own.  

We ate cinnamon rolls after we opened presents. 

Ragnar spent a couple hours putting together the basketball hoop after breakfast. The boys played a minute and then we drove to my parents for a nice day of football, food, and puzzles.  

We had to finish this puzzle before we left, so I made them stay a little longer ;)

Although I pray that the kids do not think the meaning of Christmas is about what they receive, I do love to give them gifts. For our family, it is really the only time besides birthdays they get anything, and I love to think about what would make them happy. I am grateful that we know that the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ, for without Him, our life would be meaningless. 

Winter School Break!

This winter break we planned a lot of activities to do together as a family! The month of December was very full and we had a fun time making memories. 

We went to the Humble City Parade which I have never been to although I have lived here most of my life. It was a cute little parade. 

We made ginger bread houses together which the kids always love to do. This year we had a rough time getting them to hold together, so we will have to try another strategy next year! 

We still had fun! 

We went down to the Toyota Center to watch the Rockets play which was nice.  

We made sugar cookies which the kids wish we did more often! It's just so messy, I can only handle it for so long ;) 

Cavin's santa cookie and Channing's Olaf the snowman one were my favorite. 

We went to Tomball, TX to see the Christmas German Festival. It wasn't as exciting as usual, but Ragnar got to get some German food. 

The Utah State University basketball team came to town and played in the Toyota Center which was lucky for us. We got to go to an alumni dinner before and watch them play! Cavin was chosen to play Jumbo Jog on the court during half time and put on oversized clothes and make a layup. He didn't win, but I was so proud of him being brave enough to do it. He was so nervous!

Daphne came to go with us and she kept it entertaining with her fun attitude and chants. She even got us on the jumbotron and we made ESPN. The Scotts and the Child's families got to come with us, and they won in overtime, so it was a fun night!

A couple evenings later the kids got to go have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's with their cousins while Ragnar and I spent the night downtown at his work Christmas party. 

Ragnar made $80 in the money machine which was nice.  

I have a handsome date. The party wasn't that thrilling, but it was fun to be together and it was nice to have a hotel gifted to us from a client and have a night to ourselves. 

The kids had a blast on their sleepover and obviously didn't sleep much because as soon as we got in the car after picking them up, all 4 of them were asleep in minutes! haha

Christmas came and was a nice day which I will post about in a separate post. 

After Christmas we were given tickets to Zoo lights, so we went down to those. 

You couldn't see any of the zoo animals, but they had a lot of fun light displays. 

It was nice weather and a good time to go.  

Zoo lights are something I have always wanted to try, but haven't ever spent the money on, so it was nice to be able to go and experience it without having to fork out a lot of money. A nice memory.

Another one of Ragnar's former co workers was kind enough to give us tickets to see NASA galaxy lights. It was definitely not as many lights as the zoo lights, but it was neat to see.

We got to take a tram through the lights to the farther section of the exhibits. 

They had music to these lights that were cool to watch.  

It was a drizzly night, but we had fun being together. 

Our last activity of the break was to go to Valley Ranch and go ice skating. 

 

The kids did a pretty good job and they are getting much better every time we go. Deacon never wants help as he thinks he can do everything on his own. He got pretty good shuffling along by himself. Ella did fine on her own and Cavin fell several times but kept getting up and going again. Channing is the one who wanted me to hold her hand pretty much the whole time, but it was fine. The ice wasn't great, which I guess you'd expect for a $5 stand up ice rink, but it was still a fun adventure. I only wish my ankles weren't so crooked so it wouldn't hurt so bad to have ice skates on. After only 20 minutes I always get blisters. Either way, we had a fun time together.

We have had many game nights and evenings with friends with smores and fireworks and just a fun break with the kids, family, and friends. I'm grateful for the time we have together.