Hi! How is your week going? I’m hanging in there, slowly chipping away at my holiday to-do list and looking forward to getting a big chunk of it checked off this weekend! It will be a busy one with our niece sleeping over Friday, and then work, a birthday party and Joe’s company Christmas party all on Saturday. But come Sunday, look out! This elf is getting her holiday ON!! To keep me motivated, and prove that I’m not such a total slacker, here are some pictures from Christmases past. But before I do that, I can’t help but say Christmases again. Seriously? What a fun word! Christmases. HA! Moving on…
the first year we hosted Christmas at our house, we had a gingerbread house contest for the adults, who were randomly paired up in teams of two… there was a very short time limit and we worked on the tile floor! we had a total blast, and the professional carpenter and his electrician partner won with their perfectly assembled house -while the rest of us could barely get ours to stand upright!
we tend to overdo it when it comes to Santa, but in our defense, we have a huge family! Pooch was such a good sport, and he never bothered with any of the shiny ribbons or ornaments 🙂
we earned our table space for the gingerbread house contest after the first year, since it was such a hit!
going through old Christmas pictures always makes me smile seeing how much the kids have grown through the years, and how our family has grown too! this picture of Grace is a bittersweet reminder that time flies!
we finally retired our adults-only gingerbread house contest when the kids were old enough to not need so much help making their own. to be nice, we retired the time limit too! the kid’s houses turned out much sweeter, don’t you think?
we started hosting a cookie party several years ago, and the kids always have such a great time! Mercy takes cookie-making very seriously!
last year, we had the BEST kids activities during our annual Christmas Eve open house! the kids had a total blast playing with “snow” in the desert. thanks, Pinterest!
Hope was pretty good at this game!
Dax the snowman and Mercy the builder
some of the homemade gifts I make every year for friends and family
last year, we had two different hot cocoa bars: one for the cookie party and one on Christmas Eve
remember that picture of Grace earlier? she’s grown a bit, wouldn’t you say? here she is with her hot cocoa bar creation! last year was the first time we did this, but it won’t be the last!
our gingerbread house making evolves again: using ice cream cones to make gingerbread trees!
Sometimes, all it takes to get me going on a project is remembering all the cool things we’ve done over the years and all the fun we’ve had. I hope I’ve helped to inspire you in your holiday plans! If you get a minute, leave a comment! I’d love to hear about your holiday traditions!
