'Tis the Season

Now that the kids are getting older and are more excited about the holidays, we celebrated and prepared in various ways throughout December. Some of our holiday fun...

**Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association Holiday Party

We went to our third annual RMDSA holiday party, and my parents were thankfully once again able to join us as Gilby was busy hosting the party for the adults with Down syndrome at the same time. We had a yummy breakfast, a visit from Santa (our kids still won't sit on his lap - perfectly fine by me), and fun seeing lots of friends.

**Tree Hunting

We went to a Christmas "Tree Town" this year to pick out our tree. Although it was during a cold snap and the temperature was probably 7 degrees, the kids still had fun running around and helping get the tree loaded. It was set up on a miniature golf course with an impressive light display and hot cocoa and treats inside. Gilby and I both grew up with real trees and love carrying on the tradition with our own family.

**Decorating the Tree

Although crazy with kids grabbing at ornaments left and right, decorating the tree was actually really fun this year. The kids were so excited at each new ornament they pulled out of the boxes and loved finding the perfect spot for each. I loved our tree this year and so enjoyed sitting in a quiet house after the kids were in bed with just the glow of our tree and decorations.

We were gathering the kids to get a photo in front of the tree when Myles said, "Pidey," and ran upstairs to his room. I thought he was getting a Spider Man toy to be in the picture, but he came down five minutes later like this, ready for pictures. Funny kid.

**Christmas Cookies

Grandma came over one day and we had a cookie baking marathon. The kids helped Grandma and Daddy decorate sugar cookies while I made lots and lots of cookies for teachers, therapists, etc.

Bottom right - I burned out our mixer making the cookies, but my ingenious husband found a solution!

** Christmas Countdowns

We counted down the days until Christmas on a chalkboard and also with a new Christmas book every night. A couple years ago, a friend of mine counted down the days until Christmas with a new book every night. I loved the idea and that same year bought a bunch of books at an after Christmas sale. It didn't work out last year, but we had fun with it this year.

**Light Gazing

We took the kids out for dinner one evening and drove around to look at lights afterward. We live near some beautiful neighborhoods with impressive light displays - I think Gilby and I probably enjoyed it more than the kids!

I've always loved the Christmas season and excitement around the holidays, but love it even more watching it through my kids' eyes.