Snapshots & Sunshine: Christmas Morning 2020

I know, I know. It's getting close to the end of January. But here are my pictures from Christmas morning. This was our first year doing our own thing for the whole day with just Ryan, the girls, and me. On Christmas Eve, we opened PJ's that my mom sent me and the girls, and we watched The Christ Child.

On Christmas morning Ryan and I filled up the girls stockings, and made sure all the presents were under the tree and then we made gingerbread waffles and lemon sauce. One perk to doing Christmas on our own is that we don't have to get up crazy early yet because the girls have no idea that is something that other children do. We just woke them up when we normally would.

When Ryan was a kid his parents would break open a bag of Hershey's kisses and scatter them on the floor by the stockings and Christmas tree. So, we did that this year and also had a little pink balance bike out (Roses big gift. Not wrapped because who wants to wrap a whole bike???) When she came into the living room in her cute little red and black buffalo plaid nightgown she saw the candy and said "Whoa. Look at all that candy!" and went to work eating as many Hershey's kisses as she possibly could. Then she noticed her bike and was happy about it, but the candy was the real showstopper for her.

We decided to let Lucy sleep as late as she wanted to (never wake a sleeping baby!) So, Rose opened her presents up with Ryan and I. She got 3 new books, a very soft stuffed dragon, some water color paints and paper, and some toy vegetables that she can cut up with a toy knife. (Not opened on Christmas were gifts from her grandparents and great grandparents. From my grannie and papa we took the girls to the Discovery Gateway Museum, my mom and dad gave her some cute clothes, a bucket of little animals, and a stuffed cheetah, Ryan's dad and his wife, Lisa, gave her a bunch of cute clothes and a bunch of little board books, her other grandma and grandpa gave her a soft hello kitty blanket and stuffed animal and some more soft pjs, and her aunt Emily gave her two of the cutest pairs of shoes ever, and her aunt Brianna crocheted a mermaid (!) for her. She is one loved little girl!)

After opening presents, we ate gingerbread waffles with lemon sauce (one of Ryan's childhood recipes) and then got Lucy up to open her presents. Lucy got the cutest stuffed octopus there ever was, some indestructible baby books, a new hat, and two fun little baby toys. (From my mom and dad she got some cute baby clothes, a squeaky alpaca, and some fruit squeeze pouches, from Ryan's dad and Lisa she got a bunch of clothes and baby books, and from her other grandma and grandpa she also got a hello kitty blanket and stuffed hello kitty, and a bunch of soft pjs, and from her aunt Brianna she got a crocheted snowman.)

While we cleaned up breakfast Rose and Lucy played with Rose's new toy vegetables which were a huge hit!

During nap time Ryan and the girls took naps and I made a chocolate coconut cake. We've decided not to do Santa Claus in our home. (No judgment to anyone who chooses differently!) It just feels like a bit of a hassle and we both prefer to have more of a focus on the Jesus's gifts than gifts from Santa. (Once again, no judgment for people who celebrate differently! We both grew up believing in Santa Claus and still learned about and could feel the Spirit when we learned about the birth of the Savior! This is just what feels right for our family.) On Christmas Day, we've decided to have a "birthday party" for the Savior where we make a cake, and blow out a candle, and then give "gifts to the Savior" where we write down one thing we want to do this year to show our love for Jesus Christ. This was our first year doing it, and it was lots of fun for Rose. She loved blowing out the candle and singing primary songs for the "birthday party."

For dinner we just did crockpot meatballs, rice, and roasted broccoli. I'm not a big fan of holiday food (turkey, ham, potatoes, meh. I do like rolls, but I have never successfully made any...) so I thought of something that felt like fun holiday food, but was super easy to make because cooking and cleaning all day is not my idea of a good holiday!

It was a very low key but enjoyable day spent with us and the kids, and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Oh, we also decided to countdown to Christmas by having a fun and simple Christmas activity to do each day of December until Christmas. I made a red and green paper chain to help Rose visualize how many days were left until Christmas and on each one there were activities like: go see the lights at Pioneer Park, make hot chocolate, watch a Christmas movie, read Christmas books, make gingerbread houses, listen to Christmas music, etc. I think it made all of December feel magical and special. We also set up our Nativity (carved by my Papa), and told stories about Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus (or as Rose says, "Married and Jofef and baby Jesus" and "the two wisemen" because we only have two wisemen in our nativity so far. I get a new piece every year.)

Christmas is such a magical time of the year. I'm always a little sad when it ends, but I do enjoy looking forward to it all year long and with kids there is so much more to look forward to!

My sister told me about a new trend where you wrap gifts to look like they are obviously one thing, but then they aren't even close to the thing they look like. this was a gift card to Ryan's favorite book store.