Christmas

We are slowly starting to build some Christmas traditions as the kids continue to get older. This Christmas Eve, we had a birthday party for Jesus where we sang happy birthday, ate birthday cake and read the story of his birth.

The next morning, I made a breakfast casserole and the boys came downstairs to their gifts. We are toying with the idea of doing three main gifts for each child, in representation of the three gifts Jesus received.

We didn't take too many pictures this Christmas morning, but Zachary got a kitchen, train table, and a magnet set. Eli got a "busy town" activity center, a rocking horse, and a set of his own keys.

They both got stockings, but they had to wait until Sydney was in town to open those.

For Christmas, I received some of my Nana's jewelry and one of her scarves. It was the most perfect thing to wear on Christmas Day.

That evening, we went to my mom's house, where we do our traditional steak dinner with my immediate family. As always, we definitely missed Dan and Tami, and the kids.

Enchanted Forest

My friend, Katie and I, took the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and then to the Enchanted Forest. Of course, Zachary loved it, as he does most things Christmasy and festive. Love that kid!

Lights

Zachary has been SO in to Christmas lights this year, so every chance we get, we have put the kids in the car, with a warm drink and have driven around looking at all the lights. We try to research the best houses. We went to Starry Nights once, and of course, that was a hit. The entire time,  he says "Wow. Look at the those lights, Mommy. Looky there! Look at those lights! Those lights are so pretty! Whoa!"

How can you resist that? And approximately 1,375 times a day, he tells us he wants "to go see some lights."

I think he may encounter a small depression when all the lights come down.

My sister's fiance, Daniel, was so determined to make Zachary a special Christmas gift, he spent two weeks on a Christmas light display at her house. Needless to say, Zachary was VERY excited. Here are a handful of pictures we've taken while looking at lights.

Christmas in Guntersville

We spent the 3 days before Christmas with Zach's family in Guntersville. We stayed with his grandfather, which was so nice. I don't know if I've ever spent that amount of time with him before. He is such a kind, funny, and warm man. It makes me grateful that my husband was able to have him around when growing up.

It's always fun watching my kids play with their cousins and grandparents. My two were instantly in love with them all.

Before we left, I took a few pictures of Shandy and the kids outside...

It took a while, but on the trip back, we finally got the boys to sleep for about 30 minutes at the same time.