My 2 kiddos ( I love saying that)
Every night after dinner during Advent we lit our advent candle and put a new advent ornament on the tree. Preston was so excited to light the 4th candle and then the Christ candle. When the new year came and I was cleaning up the decorations Preston looked at me distraught and said, "you are going to throw away the Christ candle?" He just couldn't believe it. :) I have so many fun memories of Tim telling the new story and Preston telling the stories from days past. It really set the tone for the whole season.
On Christmas eve we had a dessert party. I baked all week and even tried my hand at cake pops. My mom and Tim's mom both sent/brought candy melts so I could make this happen. I wanted to test them out for our dessert party, so I knew if I wanted to make them again for Prestons birthday days later. I don't like chocolate so Tim was the tester, and he said they were great. I learned a few tricks and am sure next time they will be even easier to make.
The table was set with cake pops, ginger snaps, kringla (thanks GRAM), snicker doodles, regular chocolate cake, special K bars, veggies and fruit. It was yummy and for me would be the last of the baking I did for a while.
We also went to the Int'l church for a candlelight service and afterward got our only family picture (can you believe it)
Isabella looked so cute in her Christmas dress from my Aunt and sweater from Amanda Pennington.
My little boy was not so little any more and it made the season even more fun watching him grow with anticipation for the day we would celebrate the birth of our Savior. I couldn't help but to remember that 4 years earlier we were in Thailand on Christmas eve. I was 4 days overdue and we spent the evening with the Himstedt house Aussie style.
Christmas morning arrived and I made a cherry kringla for breakfast, thank you pinterest, and a sausage egg and cheese casserole. We skyped in with our families and of course reviewed all of our advent stories.
Preston received a new train part for his Thomas set and while I cooked Christmas dinner, Tim and Preston put the track together and played.
Among a number of dishes, I also made turkey. It turned out lovely, and with the leftover carcass I made turkey stock. DELICIOUS!
We had a great day celebrating the birth of our Savior with friends. At the end of the day we were tired and full. I love the slow pace of life in Asia, we don't get all the holiday craziness that happens in the states. I love that my children will always remember Christmas as being a time to reflect on the coming of our Savior. It is a much quieter time of reflection and filled with great food and wonderful friends. This year of course seemed extra special. As we told the story of the little baby born unto us over 2000 years ago, I got to hold my sleepy baby girl born just over 2 months earlier.
I pray your Christmas was as magical as ours!
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