Christmas Recap

We had a lot of Christmas gatherings over the holiday weekend, in fact we still have one left that got pushed back because of my having the stomach flu.

I've been really bad about updating with all the busyness and I don't want to overlook sharing about Desmond's first Christmas!

On the 24th we spent the entire day at my in-laws, except nap time. The morning was pretty casual and then after nap we met up for the Christmas Eve service at our church. Afterwards we gathered at their house again for the traditional homemade chicken noodle soup + crescent rolls for dinner and a Christmas devotional.

We also got to ooh and ahh over my sister-in-law Kristi's ring, she got engaged the week before and will most likely get married some time this year.

After dinner we gathered to do gifts. Malakai had been extra patient and REALLY good about not opening gifts before hand while they were under the tree. Pretty good for 2 1/2! Once it was time he was very excited and moved from one gift to the next in a bit of a blur. He even helped me open mine and Desmond's gifts.

{he especially loved the boxes}

{Ben was excited to get an AppleTV}

This year we gave almost all handmade gifts, had we not done this to save money we probably wouldn't have been able to participate in gift exchanges with anyone this year. It took a lot of coordination on my part to get them done, but I really enjoyed it.

A tradition my parents had when I was growing up was to give us kids new jammies on Christmas Eve and we'd wear them that night. Ben + I have made this a tradition, staring with each other when we were first married and now getting pj's for our kids. It got kind of late so we gave the boys their jammies at Grandma + Grandpa's house instead of when we got home.

{their first matching outfits}

Ben read The Night Before Christmas to Malakai before bed and once he was asleep we prepared gifts and got to bed ourselves. 

Christmas morning we took things a bit slow, had the traditional lefse for breakfast and watched a little tv with Kai. When we got around to exchanging gifts Malakai wanted to play with them as he opened them so we let him while Ben + I opened gifts from each other. 

I gave Ben Nike+ accessories for his iPhone for him to track his running progress. He gave me a stick vacuum that I've been wanting. We also did a few stocking stuffers. We gave the boys some things we had collected for them over the year as sales came up. Malakai's favorites were the letters and the wooden Melissa & Doug tool set (with the hammer reserved for a more mature time).

{Desmond even played with his gifts}

That afternoon we gathered with my mom's side of the family for dinner and gifts. We do gifts for all the kids high school age and younger and then a white elephant exchange among all the adults. Kai refused to sit down for dinner so Ben + I ate in shifts, which was a bit disappointing, but unavoidable. The boys got a lot of wonderful + generous gifts and Desmond pretty much slept through the whole thing. Afterward we stopped by my dad's brother's for dessert + gifts with him and his wife. They have a new dog that Malakai just adored. 

The morning of the 26th we went to my parents' place and had breakfast and exchanged gifts. Just before we left I started to feel sick and that afternoon I had come down with the stomach flu. I'm just thankful it didn't hit me during any of our gatherings!

{my all-time favorite Christmas photo}

It was so fun to watch Malakai really get the concept of gifts this year. He understood that some were his and some were for others. We also enjoyed explaining the birth of Jesus to him and seeing the wheels turning as he begins to understand. 

So that was our Christmas 2011!