The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Happy New Year! We were blessed with amazing family time over the holidays and have been spending the last three weeks with out of town relatives, but now that everyone is gone (sniff), and the decorations are packed away, I'm finally getting back to the blog to document it all.

I loved Christmas growing up, but I think it's even better as a parent. Creating traditions and memories with our kids, and watching their excitement throughout the season has been such a joy. The holidays were pretty stress-free, and we worked to be intentional in our time together and in celebrating the simple things that make this time of year so magical.

Decorating the House & Donning the Tree
I had fun cozying up the house with Christmas decorations, especially those passed on to us by my mom and grandma, and made by the kids. We went as a family to get our tree at a lot raising funds for a local non-profit and the kids did so good decorating it. They were all very careful and deliberate in their decorating this year as compared to the chaos that ensued just one year ago with three slightly younger and more wild kids. 

Clockwise from top left: A ceramic tree made by my grandma in 1971 that we have displayed in Sydney's room for two years now. My grandma's ornaments from Mexico, crafts made by the kids and our Christmas countdown wreath. A wreath craft project mailed to us by our old nanny, Anne Marie, that Sydney and I had fun putting together. An idea Gilby found on Pinterest. Our little tree decorated with my grandma's Nutcracker ornaments.

Christmas Crafts

Gingerbread Houses
We went to dinner at the Murray's house one weekend and the kids made gingerbread houses afterwards. Amie baked these adorable houses by scratch! Ryker ate way more candy than he used to decorate and snuck candy off the houses for days afterward!

Lights, lights, lights!
We went to a tree lighting and Santa's arrival in Southglenn one evening, spent another evening Downtown Littleton to look at the amazing light display there, and walked along Clear Creek in Golden with family for more light fun.

 

 

Snowman!
So although not really holiday related, the kids were excited to make a snowman in our backyard. I was excited it was a 50 degree day!

Decorating Cookies at Grandma's
Cousin Raum and Aunt Siri spent over two weeks here for Christmas and we loved their extended visit! The bond these cousins have is very sibling-like and my kids couldn't get enough time with Raumers. Grandma was brave enough to take on baking and decorating cookies with this wild crew.

More holiday fun to come!