Having John back from a week on the other side of the world made Christmas a little extra magical this year.
We spent the early part of Christmas Eve with some of the fantastic people in the Consulate community, and then we came home for some family time. We've been burning an advent candle through December and reading scriptures each night to remind us of the Savior's life and teachings. We burned the last bit and read the Christmas story before putting on new pajamas and heading off to bed (where the kids slept on their special Christmas Eve pillow cases).
Oddly, Johnny slept late on Christmas morning, so Evie and Samuel had to be patient! Here they are inspecting Santa's gifts.
When Johnny finally woke up and came sprinting out of his room, we tackled the stockings first. Favorite stocking treat? Forget chocolate, it was definitely the flavor-blasted Goldfish, specially carried from the States by Mr. Claus himself. I believe Samuel ate his entire bag before lunch.
Johnny's big gift from Santa was a huge Lego set, over 1,000 pieces. We pulled out the craft table, and he got to work right away.
The big gifts for Samuel and Evie were scooters. Here's Samuel trying his out in the dining room.
We splurged for our Thanksgiving turkey, so for Christmas dinner we had roast chicken. Very fresh roast chicken. John went down to the local "protein shop," pointed to the chickens he wanted, and then watched them get killed and cleaned. A friend recently had a fresh chicken twitching as she tried to stuff it, so I let these rest in the fridge for 24 hours. I'm happy to say they were good and dead by the time I got my hands on them.
Evie and Samuel spent some time outside comparing scooters with the neighbor kids'...
We spent the early part of Christmas Eve with some of the fantastic people in the Consulate community, and then we came home for some family time. We've been burning an advent candle through December and reading scriptures each night to remind us of the Savior's life and teachings. We burned the last bit and read the Christmas story before putting on new pajamas and heading off to bed (where the kids slept on their special Christmas Eve pillow cases).
Oddly, Johnny slept late on Christmas morning, so Evie and Samuel had to be patient! Here they are inspecting Santa's gifts.
When Johnny finally woke up and came sprinting out of his room, we tackled the stockings first. Favorite stocking treat? Forget chocolate, it was definitely the flavor-blasted Goldfish, specially carried from the States by Mr. Claus himself. I believe Samuel ate his entire bag before lunch.
Johnny's big gift from Santa was a huge Lego set, over 1,000 pieces. We pulled out the craft table, and he got to work right away.
The big gifts for Samuel and Evie were scooters. Here's Samuel trying his out in the dining room.
One of the traditions we keep going from the Hall side of the family is a big Christmas breakfast, made by Dad. I really like this tradition.
We splurged for our Thanksgiving turkey, so for Christmas dinner we had roast chicken. Very fresh roast chicken. John went down to the local "protein shop," pointed to the chickens he wanted, and then watched them get killed and cleaned. A friend recently had a fresh chicken twitching as she tried to stuff it, so I let these rest in the fridge for 24 hours. I'm happy to say they were good and dead by the time I got my hands on them.
Evie and Samuel spent some time outside comparing scooters with the neighbor kids'...
... but Johnny spent most of the day working on the Malevolence and his other Lego set, Captain America's Avenging Cycle.
The kids said over and over that this was the best Christmas ever, but I think they say that every year. I love their excitement, and I love that they know what it's really about. Evie told me she loves Christmas because of presents and Jesus and Santa. That's just slightly out of order, but she's getting there.
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