Christmas Day

I love being able to spend Christmas morning with Jonathan and the kids.  After sleeping in a little, we went into the living room and opened stockings.  The kids got fruit, some candy and a toothbrush.

Then we each opened our individual presents.  The kids each got one present from their wish list and then a few group presents.

Braedi did some nice homemade gifts for everyone.  She wrote several poems for Jonathan and she crocheted a hat for me (with the help of Grandma Garrett and Aunt Christy).

Then we had our traditional Puff Pancake breakfast and hung out together all day.

Christmas with the Garrett's

My mom wanted us to join her and dad for church the Sunday before Christmas and then return to her house for dinner and Christmas festivities.  My brother and his family were in town and it was great to see them. 

After church we took some family photos (still waiting for a copy) then had a yummy dinner.  Next the kids acted out the nativity then played Silent Night on the chimes. 

Then they got to open presents.  I made my kids' wish list this year and some of them weren't too happy, but I didn't want my parents to spend money on toys.  I opted for some fun science kits and school games.  Turns out they love them and have been playing with them often.  I got some new boots and then Jonathan and I got some money that we will use to buy a new stove.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is getting to spend time with family.  The kids have so much fun playing with cousins and I enjoy visiting with the adults.  Memories are being made.

Christmas with the Mecham's

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to make gyoza with the Mecham side of the family.  This year we did it up at Jeremiah and Christy's new house in Prescott Valley.  Kosette and Matt came down from Oregon and Alison and Patrick brought their cute new baby from Utah.  The only one missing was Uncle Philip (he opted out). 

We got there early and went for a hike.  It was a little cold and it sprinkled on us, but it was beautiful.  We had lunch and then relaxed.  Finally it was time to make gyoza--this is something we look forward to all year. 

After gyoza we cleaned up then shared Christmas presents.  Earlier in December Grandma Mecham gave all the grand kids their presents--monkey's that she had crocheted (she learned how as a YW goal--Awesome!).  They were supposed to be Christmas tree ornaments, but the kids kept them down and played with them instead.  Jonathan and I got a camping "stove".  I'm not sure what it is called, but it looked cool and we look forward to using it.  We'll go camping as soon as it warms up.  The siblings did a homemade gift exchange.  We got Alison and Patrick.  I stole and idea from a friend and made a name board for them.  Lucky for me it was pretty easy and I had some help.  I think it turned out cute.

We got candle holders that Jeremiah carved on his lathe.  They look great on top of our piano.  The kids got some wands, too. 

We attempted to take an outdoor family photo, but it was too cold, so we tried again inside and were successful. 

Christmas Eve is also the night when the kids get to open their new pajamas.  This was another fun day visiting with family and letting the kids play with their cousins. 

The Days Before Christmas--Days 14-22

Day 14--Make and deliver Christmas goodies
I wanted to do something simple this year for Christmas presents.  I like the kids to give something to their Primary teachers and leaders.  I also like to give something to the sisters I visit teach and to Jonathan's home teaching families.  And I give something to my Primary presidency.  It's also nice to have a few extras to hand out to friends.  Jennie helped me make a simple "cookies and cream" fudge and some peanut butter and chocolate bark.  Then we put a small amount in a cute bag, added a Christmas ornament from oriental express, taped a note and passed them out at church on Sunday. 

Day 15--Ward Christmas party
Dinner and some music--super simple and super fun.

Day 16--Nativity
I always include a day where we can act out the Nativity, but I think I need to do it earlier in the month next year.  As we get closer to Christmas we get more and more busy and advent calendar activities get pushed aside.  Instead of doing it this day, we did it the Sunday before Christmas when we celebrated with my family.  My mom has the cutest costumes for the kids. 

Day 17--Make presents
I like to have the kids make something for their grandparents for Christmas.  This year they made a journal.  They painted hand prints on material then folded them around notebooks.  I attached the first part of President Eyring's talk O Remember, Remember. 

Day 18--Read a Christmas story
I checked out some new Christmas stories from the library and we read a few.  It's fun to read something different, but it's also fun to read some of the classics.

Day 19--Watch a Christmas movie
My goal was to introduce the kids to A Christmas Story, but it never came from library.  We founds some cute cartoon Christmas movies on Netflix instead.

Day 20--Service Project
Every year we get to do a service project in lieu of gifts for Grandma and Grandpa Mecham.  We love doing this.  Braedi helped pick out and organize the project.  We did a food drive and collected 2 and 1/2 boxes of food to donate to the food bank. 

Day 21--Popsicle Christmas tree
We never got to this activity.

Day 22--Gingerbread man Party
This was actually on the calendar for after Christmas, but we had a friend call and invite us to the park to make gingerbread houses so I traded it with Christmas lights.  The friends that joined us the park were the same friends we were going to invite to our party so it worked out great.  I made cookies and the other moms brought graham crackers for houses.  The kids could do both or one. 

The Days Before Christmas--Days 1-13

Every December we do an advent calendar of sorts to help us get in the  holiday spirit.  I like to think that the kids enjoy these activities and they will be part of the things they remember about their childhood. 

Day 1--Write letters to Santa
The kids know that Jonathan and I are Santa, but I still wanted them to write a letter to Santa so that I could know what they wanted for Christmas.  I found a cute, simple template on-line. 

 Day 2--Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional
What a great start to the season.  I love listening to those men share their testimonies of the Birth of the Savior. 

Day 3--Decorate the Christmas Tree
I tried to talk the kids into not decorating this year, but got out voted.  That's OK, though, because the tree sure is pretty.  After taking this picture I realized how short our tree is (it's hard to see over our heads).  Sometime soon we'll have to get a bigger one. 

 

Day 4--Drink egg nogg
This is the only time of the year that I will buy that drink and I'll drink only 1 glass.  Dyllan can't stand it, but the other 4 loved it.  We drank ours with graham crackers.

Day 5--Watch a Christmas Movie

Every Wednesday we watch a musical.  We've watched a lot of different ones over the past year and a half.  For this month, though, we swapped our musical with a Christmas movie.  Today it was a Veggie Tales one about the origin of St. Nicholas. 

 

Day 6--Write and preform a Christmas play

We just finished reading A Christmas Carol followed by Jacob T. Marley so the kids decided to act out the 3 ghosts visiting Scrooge.  Ephram was Scrooge, Braedi was Marley, Faythe was the Ghost of Christmas Past, Dyllan was the Ghost of Christmas Present and Corbin was the Ghost of Christmas's Yet to Come. 

Day 7--Paint a Christmas Picture

The kids used oil pastels to draw a picture about Christmas then painted over their picture with water colors.

Day 8--Play a Christmas Game

We ran out of time to play the game on this day, but we made sure to fit it in during the next day.  I found a site with a lot of fun Christmas games and we chose 2 to play--pass the ornament and who am I Santa.  We had lots of laughs. 

 

Day 9--Read a story from the Friend

The Friend always has good Christmas stories.  We just received it in the mail the day before so all the stories were new. 

Day 10--Christmas craft
Aunt Alison sent the kids a cute craft to make.  We printed them off, cut and glued and made a little penguin family.  Thanks, Alison!

Day 11--Christmas movie
This time we watched Christmas  Bunny--a cute story about a foster child who finds a new family. 

Day 12--Color a Christmas picture
Some days we needed a short, simple activity and this was one of them.  We took coloring pages with us while we ran errands and helped Grandma and the kids colored as they had time and desire.

Day 13--Paper Christmas ornaments
For this activity we took scraps of wrapping paper, cut them in strips and glued them to a piece of paper.  Then we cut out a circle from our paper and added string to make an ornament.  They turned out cute. 

 

Advent Calendar--Day 25

The last day of our advent calendar--Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Garrett's.  Christmas Eve is for the Mecham's, Christmas morning is ours and Christmas afternoon/evening is for the Garrett's.  After church and the baptism we headed over to my parents for dinner, the nativity and presents.  My mom bought some super cute costumes for the kids to dress up in for the nativity.  Braedi was an angel, Corbin was Jospeh, Dyllan was a wise man, Ephram was a shepherd, Faythe was a wiseman then a dove then an angel (she changed costumes 3 times), and Jonathan and I were village people. 

My parents tried to find a new slide for our swingset for the kids, but had no luck.  So the kids got legos and a pass to the White Tank Mountains as a group gift.  They also got an individual gift.  Braedi got a crochet kit, Corbin got a science kit and Dyllan, Ephram and Faythe got nerf guns.  I got a docking station for my ipod and some new clothes and Jonathan got an inflatable kayak.  It was a fun evening. 

Advent Calendar--Days 16 & 17

Day 16--Ward Christmas Party.  (Actually the ward Christmas party was back on day 9, but some how my days got mixed up so I'm adding it in.)  I love Christmas parties that don't include Santa Claus.  This was a nice dinner and a program.  I was asked to narrate the program--YIKES--but, I practiced speaking slowly and clearly and I think I did a good job. 

 Day 17--Make Christmas Granola.  I found a super yummy looking recipe, but we never got around to making it.  Luckily, Lola made and gave us some of her yummy granola.

Christmas Morning

Growing up, our parents blocked our view of the living room and the presents and made us all go out together.  I like to do the same thing, too.  The kids came into our room as they woke up (a couple of us still look half asleep).

Then we went out into the living room.  We checked out the stuff in our stockings first.  There's always some fruit and a toothbrush and chapstick and usually a couple of small toys. 

We got the kids rollerblades and scooters this year for their one gift.  We've been doing a lot of activities at the park and they have been wishing for something else to do besides the playground.  I got a pair of rolleblades, too, so that I could help them learn.  I also got some speakers for the computer!  Jonathan got some accessories for his [wished for] kayak.  I only took this picture of the scooters/rollerblades.

Braedi, Corbin and Dyllan also gave gifts.  Braedi did handmade gifts, Corbin gave old toys and Dyllan did a mixture of both.  They were well thought out and well received (mostly--Corbin got an empty container of bubbles that he thought was weird). 

Another tradition of ours is puff pancakes for breakfast.  We only have them 1 other time during the year and the kids really look forward to it. 

Our Christmas morning also included church and a baptism.  I was asked to sing in the ward choir--a bit of a shock to me, but a good experience.  When I'm in a different phase of life, I would like to take voice lessons.  I don't think I'll continue with the choir, though,there is too much on my plate right now.   Merry Chirstmas!

Advent Calendar--Day 24 (Christmas Eve)

This deserves a post all by itself.  Our Christmas Eve tradition is gyoza night with the Mecham's.  Grandpa served his mission in Japan and learned how to make gyoza (pot stickers).  We all get together and help make this yummy dinner. 

After dinner, Grandma and the kids made Christmas mice out of cherries and kisses. 

After some visiting, we had a Christmas program.  Some of the kids played a Christmas song on the piano and some sang.  I think it is so funny that Faythe joined Jeremiah's family in their song.  Then we opened presents.  We got a lot of fun games and a new family Book of Mormon.  This night was also when we presented Grandma and Grandpa with our service project. 

Another Christmas Eve tradition is new pajamas for the kids.  They love this.

Advent Calendar--Days 22 & 23

Day 22--Pretzel Wreaths.  Take 7 twisty pretzels and "glue" them together in a circle with melted white chocolate.  Top melted chocolate with chocolate candies or red hots.  Embelish with fruit leather. 

Day 23--Draw a Christmas picture and write about it.  We didn't do this activity either, but we did a journal writing prompt about our favorite Christmas memory.  I wrote about when my seminary class adopted a family and we did the 12 days of Christmas with them.  The kids wrote about favorite presents and favorite vacations.