It WAS the most wonderful time of the year!

Alas, the Christmas season is coming to an end, but what a holiday it was this year! So many smiles, so many looks of wonder, so much joy! Here are my favorite memories from this Christmas...

Mason insisted on going to bed every night with his Santa hat on. No exceptions. If he woke up during the night for some water or because of a bad dream, we had to replace his Santa hat in order for him to fall back asleep. Christmas night was the final night of sleeping with the Santa hat on, and now it is retired until next year!

One of Harper's biggest Christmas wishes was to attend the Pacific Northwest Ballet's rendition of the Nutcracker. Not only was it her dream to see the ballet, but her Opa must accompany her! The ballet is not one of my dad's favorite pasttimes, but all it took was Harper asking him to go for him to readily say yes. We almost didn't make it due to the freak snowstorm that bombarded Seattle, but we plowed through the ice and snow and made it there, and even got better seats due to the lack of attendance! I loved looking over at Harper and her Opa swaying to the music and just enjoying one another's company.

Mason and Harper both loved singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" over and over and over and over again! However, they slightly changed the lyrics... "He knows if you are sleeping, he knows if you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for Jesus' sake!" Perhaps they combined Christmas carols with lyrics to Sunday school songs?

And Georgia... our sweet baby Georgia... how she loved all things Christmas! Mason and Harper were both terrified of Santa at her age, but she ran full speed for Santa and leaped into his lap for her chance to tell him that she hoped he'd bring her a "bee-bee" (baby) on Christmas morning. She sang to all of the Christmas carols in baby gibberish, she ate vast amounts of uncooked cookie dough, she hung ornaments around the bottom rim of the tree... She stood in awe on the front porch with her daddy at 10:30 on the night of the first snowfall this year, and her eyes just glowed as she reached toward the sky and tried to catch the tiny flakes. I think she is just as sad as I am to say goodbye to Christmas.

A wonderful time was had this year by all. Now, only 359 days until next Christmas!

Just Hear Those Sleigh Bells Ring-a-ling...

My, the holiday fun we've been having! I guess that is my excuse for why I have been slacking off when it comes to writing. This year, all 3 kids are old enough to be involved and excited about the Christmas season. We went to a Christmas tree farm the Saturday after Thanksgiving... after 5 years of living in the Northwest, I still can't get over how scenic a trip to choose a Christmas tree can be! Mountains in the background, evergreens all around, bridges over streams...definitely better than a trip to the local Home Depot. Mason and Harper loved helping Gareth saw down the tree, and Georgia was a trooper riding on Gareth's back. So far, we've had "slumber parties" every weekend since Thanksgiving and have watched "The Grinch," "Rudolph," "Charlie Brown's Christmas," and "The Polar Express." More to come, I'm sure. This weekend we're planning on experiencing Christmastime in the city-- the mall downtown is 5 stories high, and they have a snowfall (soap foam--but it really does look like snow!) every night at 6 while they play Christmas carols and kids scream in excitement. We may also check out ice skating and the carousel. I will make every attempt to steal a few moments now and then to post more tales of holiday fun!