Glimpses of Christmas

In a super-quick nutshell, here was our Christmas.

We decorated gingerbread cookies together with friends for FHE.

We ate and ate until we were filled with sugary, spicy goodness.

I simply LOVE gingerbread!

We baked lots of other yummy treats and drove all over the county delivering them to our friends and caroling.

The kids and I sewed dozens of fabric bags to use for gift-wrapping this year. They loved helping with this project!

I made calligraphy gifts for our extended family this year.

We spent lots of time keeping Diego away from the gifts under the tree.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a wonderful new tradition, but that's a post all by itself. 

Suffice it to say, we were reminded of our bounteous blessings and filled with gratitude while we served less-fortunate people. Details will come later next week. Maybe. If I remember to type it up.

Not to be displaced on Christmas Eve, Saffron insisted on spending the night in his usual spot on the couch. 

He nuzzled in next to a stocking and looked like a gift on Christmas morning. 

Nathan designed and built a rotating star projector for the kids. It's such a neat nightlight!

I sewed a Hogwarts fort and put it in our library spot for a reading tent. 

The kids were so surprised when they woke up and saw it! 

Daniel's favorite gift was a bug-catching kit with a book on how to care for common bug pets.

Sarah's favorite gift was a knitting loom with lots of brightly-colored yarn.

Matthew's favorite gift was a cool Phineus and Ferb wristwatch.

My favorite gift was a MP3 player. Now I can listen to podcasts while I clean! 

Nathan's favorite gift was a new Nexus 7 to use during his train ride every day.

Now he reads scriptures and reviews Russian flashcards during the commute.

And we were blessed with a Texas miracle- an inch of snow!

Our kids danced in the fat falling flakes, made snow angels, and enjoyed a lively snow fight. 

Then they cried because their mittened fingers were too cold and numb. 

So I fed them all hot cocoa and steaming German pancakes and they were happy. 

The end.