Monday, January 9, 2012

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I've got to admit, I am pretty bummed that Christmas is over. It took several attempts for me to take my tree and decorations down, because I was still enjoying it so much. It didn't help that as I was packing it away, Sister said, "This makes me weally, weally sad!" I love everything about Christmas, but here are some of the things I loved the most this year:

Baking Christmas cookies with the kiddos and decorating the little tree that used to be in my bedroom when I was growing up. It still has all of the original ornaments...brings back so many wonderful memories!
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Going to Papa Simpson's farm in Arcadia and playing with the animals, riding horses, visiting Santa, taking a hayride to the middle of the woods where we sat by a bon-fire, roasted marshmallows, and listened to the story of Jesus' birth.
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Our Elf, Winkle, who would get really lazy and stay in the same spot for several nights in a row!
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Watching Noah and Anna Grace look at their baby brother with sheer joy written all over their little faces!
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Getting ready for Santa. This was the first year that Noah was able to write Santa's letter all by himself. I don't know who was prouder...me or him?! And I absolutely love our Christmas morning routine. We all pile up in my bed and read The Christmas Story out of the Bible. This is a tradition that was started by my parents, and we are passing it down to our kids. I always want them to remember the true meaning of Christmas. After that, we go into the living room. My favorite part is watching the looks on their faces as they see what Santa brought and open their gifts.
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Almost every year after Christmas we take some kind of trip with my parents. So nothing says Merry Christmas like an indoor Water Park. Although this pasty white chick was not happy about getting in a swimsuit only 6 weeks after having a baby. Who am I kidding...baby or no baby, I despise swimsuit season! But the kids had a blast, and that's what it's all about!
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Now it is back to school, doing homework (blah), going to the gym, and all of our other everyday routines! But I look forward seeing what God has in store for us! We have so much to be thankful for as we go into this new year! Bring it on 2012!!!

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