Christmas Day 2020

 

It's the most magical day of the year. There is nothing quite like the magic and excitement of two little ones on Christmas morning.  I will truly treasure these years, I know they will go by fast.

When the boys came down on Christmas morning, we had a fire going in the fireplace and even with all of the presents, that is the first thing they wanted to see. It was adorable to watch them sit and gaze at the fire and warm their little hands.

After checking out the fire they got down to business and started checking out their presents.  Will was so excited to get a nerf gun from Santa.  

And Ben got the scooter he asked for.  He couldn't wait to try it out.

The boys were so happy with each of their presents and wanted to stop each time they opened one so they could play with it for a while.  We sure love these boys with all of our hearts and are so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be parents and have moments like these.  

Christmas Eve

 

We had a phenomenal Christmas Eve this year!  We had cousins over to play which always makes any celebration so much better!

We decorated sugar cookies for Santa (something we do every Christmas Eve),

we played games, like Candyland, a Christmas memory game, pin the star on the Christmas tree, and a Christmas treasure hunt.

The kids loved being together and played so hard,

and I loved having a chance to chat with my sister in-laws.  They are the best!  Any way you look at it, time together with family is our favorite!

Family Christmas Party

 

We had such a great time getting together with my siblings for a family Christmas party.  My parents came briefly and dropped off presents but were not able to stay (dang COVID!)  But we were so happy to be able to spend time with everyone else.  We started off with some sledding with cousins which was so much fun.

We also made gingerbread houses together,

ate lots of treats, sweets, and candy,

played games,

opened presents, and played together.  Nothing better than being with family!

Festival of Lights

 

Every year we take the boys to go and see the Festival of Lights. This is one of mine and Dave's favorite Christmas traditions.  We both look forward to it just as much as the boys.  It is kind of magical to cozy up in the van and drive through a million Christmas lights.  The boys faces say it all.

Our city always does such an amazing job with their light show.  We seriously love where we live.  This is one of the many many reasons we love living here.

Ben's happy face when his favorite Christmas song came on the radio. "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas".   It made the evening even better.  Can't wait to do it again next year!

Gingerbread Houses

 

Every year before Christmas we make gingerbread houses.  It is such a fun tradition, and this year was the best! Will and Ben are old enough now that they can do a lot of the decorating themselves and it is so cute to see what they come up with.

We had a great time together building our houses and eating lots of candy.  The boys were so proud of their creations.  I love seeing their personalities and ideas coming out as they grow.  

Sledding

 

We finally got a decent amount of snow so we took the boys out sledding!

It was a total work out for us pulling the boys up and down the hill but they loved every minute!  Man, there is nothing better than seeing the smiles on their faces.

It was so fun playing in the snow as a family.

Ben kept laying on his belly in snow and crawling around.  It looked so cold but he was loving it.  Will had fun making snow angels for us.  We tried to build a snowman, which is Will's favorite snow activity, but the snow just wouldn't pack so we ended up making big piles of snow instead.  I'm so grateful for every chance we have to play and make memories together!

Will's Birthday

 

I love throwing birthday parties!  They are so much fun and I love seeing the happiness they bring to our little guys.  Thanks to COVID we decided to only invite two friends this year, but we still had a blast!  Will really loves science, so we had a science themed birthday party for him.  We did a few science experiments which they thought was so fun.

We also made homemade slime.  The kids loved playing with it.

And of course, no birthday party would be complete without a pinata.  Will and Dave made our pinata this year.  It was a corona virus ha ha

After all of the playing and games, the boys had some ice cream.

Then Will got to open presents from his friends.  I love how it is just as exciting for them as it is for him.  They love showing him what they got and seeing how excited he is to get it.

Every year for our kids birthdays I make them a birthday cake.  This year I did stuck with our science theme for Will.  It is so fun to make these special cakes for them.  I hope they will look back on their birthday cakes with fond memories.  

Later in the day, after friends had left we had a birthday party together as a family.  Will got his favorite food, bacon and homemade bread for dinner.  Then we sang Happy Birthday and he blew out the candles on his cake.  Afterwards we opened presents and played with his new toys.  It was a great day and I loved celebrating our special guy.