Even with the move and unpacking, I tried really hard to squeeze some fun Christmas activities in.
Our first weekend in Geneva, there was a Christmas activity downtown. Our wood floors were getting the final coat on and we had to be out of the house for eight hours. So we ended up exploring Geneva's quaint downtown.
One place had live reindeer to pet.
Another place had ornaments for the kids to make and cookies.
After that we ate lunch and went to the park.
Noah-happy and sad. Always cute.
Sofie girl. I love both of their jackets!
I think we went to Costco and by then we could go back to our house. It was a fun day...and the wood floors are done!
Another thing I did was finally finish these two quilts. I had started them when I was a Laurel for a project. I had them mostly done, just a little of the binding that needed to be worked on. Our missionaries had announced that they were doing a warm clothing collection for the people in their apartment building. Many of the residents there are refugees and were not prepared for the winter weather. At first, I thought to myself, we just moved here and I don't have time to help. But then I felt the Spirit prompt me to think of things we weren't using or didn't need and to give them away. These two quilts came to mind and I hope they warm up some refugees. I also found a few other clothing items and we gave some gift cards to help the refugees.
It wasn't easy. I had to find my sewing machines in the hundred boxes left to unpack and the quilts. But I did find them and I found time to finish sewing them. It was worth it.
I remember picking the material out with my mom and my mom teaching me how to make the quilts. She helped me tie them. She was right by my side the whole time. That was probably the hard part of giving the quilts away; the memory of making them with my mom. So I took some pictures to ease those feelings.
The kids were right there with me. Hopefully I taught them to give a little bit too. When I thought of a person leaving everything behind only to find themselves in the Chicago winter with nothing warm, it made my heart ache. We have some much in comparison; I couldn't help but give something.
I hope someone enjoyed these quilts. :)
We attended the ward Christmas party. It was a breakfast pajama party. We ate yummy breakfast food which my kids actually like! Muffins! Yay!
They sat on Santa's lap. Isak asked for "a surprise." and Kira asked for "a dollhouse." They each got to pick out a little beanie toy dog or cat.
The primary was sweet enough to include them in their little skit. Isak is a shepherd on the front row in brown with a blue hat.
And Kira was an angel, on the far left with her blue sleeves. She loved being an angel. :)
They loved the party and singing and Santa and the food. Sofie ran around and so we were constantly chasing her down. And Noah was happy in daddy's arms. A great outing.
We put the Christmas tree up. The big kids loved putting the ornaments up. Isak and Kira get more and more fun every year! I love it and I'm looking forward to the babies getting a little older too. :)
This is his excited face.
He wanted a picture with Clifford the beanie dog he got from the Christmas party.
And in the tree next to him. haha.
Noah observed the whole production.
Our neighbor invited Isak and Kira over to a gingerbread house party. I got to take them and Nels stayed home with the babies. It was so much fun!! She had a ton of candy and she made the gingerbread houses!! The kids loved it. Here's Isak picking out his candy.
Kira picking out her candy.
Decorating their houses.
All the kids lined up. After the decorating, we played two or three songs with chimes. We each held a chime and hit it with a spoon when it was our turn for the song. So cute. Isak really liked it and it made me want to teach him the piano!
I gave these count down sheets to Isak and Kira. They were both diligent in coloring in one circle everyday. Don't mind the scribble...Sofie got a hold of it. Isak was not happy about it!
I researched where we could go see Christmas lights and found a cute place about fifteen minutes from where we live. So one night we loaded up the kids and drove through the light show.
We listened to Christmas music and enjoyed the light displays.
Afterwards we went to dunkin' donuts. We each got a donut. Except the babies, we shared with them. I love Noah's shirt..."Meet me under the mistletoe."
"Hey Nels, take my picture." and this is what I get. Thanks...
Donuts all lined up...haha.
I decided a fun tradition would be to make these candy cane cookies I found in a cookbook. So I started to make them with Kira. She helped prep the candy canes and other ingredients.
Crushing the candy canes. Well, I didn't really have a lot of time to make them...So they got made up in stages over three days, haha. And they didn't turn out that great, but we ate them anyways. I think they would be yummier if they were made in just one day. Maybe next year.
Kira also hid five candy canes around the house for Isak to find. That was fun too and easy.
My mom sent us a Christmas package and said we could open it when we got it which was about a week before Christmas. She knows I have a hard time waiting. Haha. So we opened it up and it was so fun. She always gives us great gifts. Sofie go this cute purse and she's always walking around with it.
Noah got this adorable Mickey Mouse hat.
Nels got this ski mask to keep him warm while shoveling and the winter outings. Also she gave us the Little People Nativity set! All the kids love it. And of course she got me my favorite raspberry chocolates.
Isak and Kira played "Christmas" sometimes. They would say, "Ho, ho, ho" leave treats for Santa, go to sleep, wake up and say "what did he leave." It was fun to listen to their imaginative play. They colored and worked on their Christmas countdown books I got from target. We read Luke 2 with the kids and read a lot of Christmas books through the month.
One of my favorite moments was this picture below. It was all their idea. They wanted to fall asleep by the tree. So sweet.
We love Christmas!
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