This was our first Christmas in our forever house! I really started out with minimum Christmas decor because I never wanted to spend the money when we were moving around so much. So, we did buy some decor items before Christmas, but I have gone HOG-wild at post Christmas sales (including an 80% off sale at Hobby Lobby)…So, next year, I will have SO much fun decorating! Here are some pictures of what I did this year. The first two are of the fireplace in the kitchen and the last ones are of the great room.
I love reminiscing when unpacking and hanging the ornaments.
From my first Christmas as a baby
A viking fan :)
We really want to keep the Spirit of Christmas the focus of the season, rather than the secular distraction of Santa. So, I bought a wooden advent calender with boxes for each date that I filled with fun activities (bake cookies, drive around and look at lights, decorate gingerbread house, shop for Toys for Tots, etc). The kids really enjoyed opening up the boxes each morning. Here are some pictures of Elsa decorating her gingerbread houses.
I also heard of a great idea on our local Christian radio station regarding keeping the Spirit of Christmas. They mentioned placing all of the photo Christmas cards in a cute box on the kitchen table as you receive them and then each night at dinner, removing a card and praying for that specific family. I love keeping the cards out all year, so it will be fun praying for all of our friends and family throughout the year!
One thing that is really important to Aaron and I is that "Santa" doesn't bring a ton of gifts. I read on a blog once that her family did four gifts: Something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. A woman who works for me said she did three gifts, because Jesus got three gifts. How great is that??!!
On Christmas eve, we went to mass. Elsa and I went 30 minutes earlier while Chet finished his nap to get us some seats. I kept her busy with painting her nails…a huge hit. She even asked the cute lady sitting behind us if she wanted hers done. I am glad I at least took this picture before Church, because all of her curls went flat during mass because she fell asleep on me.
It would have been nice to get one with both of the kids, but Chet would NOT sit still (I have a whole new appreciation for photographers of small children!!!)
We opened gifts from the Grandparents and cousins. Chet loved opening presents so much that he had a major meltdown when he discovered there were no more gifts to open. He emptied out the garbage where we were putting the wrapping paper and dismantled boxes…fun times!
Elsa LOVED this doctor kit from Grandma Anderson! She has given us (and her dolls) multiple checkups and has turned her bedroom into her office.
Here are the treats for Santa and the reindeer.
Early the next morning, Elsa came running into our room telling us Santa drank most of his milk and left a lot of crumbs. That messy Santa. Santa only brought a couple of gifts for the kids this year along with some stocking stuffers. The gift Elsa REALLY wanted….a puppy! But, unfortunately, he can't come to our house until Feb 2nd. So, Santa wrote the kids a letter and sent a picture of the puppies. Elsa was so excited when we read the letter, but not so excited when she discovered a stuffed puppy in the box! She has changed the name a million times when asking Santa for the puppy, but after watching Frozen, she has decided on Olaf.
The other tradition we do each year, is make a Birthday Cake for Jesus. Elsa decided He was 5 years old, so we blew out five candles after singing Jesus Happy Birthday!
I really love creating new traditions, while incorporating ones Aaron and I did with our families. Love watching the joy on their faces as they experience them!
