Christmas, 2008!

Christmas this year was really great! It was Cameron's first so we were extra excited this year.

Here are some highlights from the season...

-- We had a great time relaxing, being silly, resting, playing, making sugar cookies and decorating. The kids are in love with Christmas, and that makes it extra fun! Cameron had fun opening his first presents, and playing with all the tissue paper and wrappings (check out the pictures!)

-- We went to the Irvine Park Railroad Santa Train. This is a tradition that we do with Grandma every year, and Oma and Aunt Mary decided to join us this year too. You get to ride to the North Pole and have a personal visit with Santa. The kids hand deliver their letters to him, and he reads them aloud with them intently listening. Cameron didn't seem to be too bothered. Once he saw the other kids' happy faces, he wanted to join in. We have pictures of them visiting, reading the letter, and having fun. Right at the moment that we had the perfect picture of all three kids sitting on his lap (even smiling beautifully), the batteries in the camera died at that very moment. Seriously...right at that moment. So, needless to say, we missed that photo opportunity. But, we had a great time!

--Then on Sunday the 21st we had Christmas with my family at Oma's house. We had a yummy traditional German meal of German hot dogs (really referred to as weiners) and yummy rolls to put them on. Thanks to my mom for making dinner for everyone - we didn't bring a thing. We had fun opening all of the presents, but between my sister and I there are five little kids around now, so it was a bit crazy! My mom was probably glad to see us all go that night....

--On Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa and Grandma Mary's house in Anaheim during the day. It was nice for the kids to see their lights outside and their house all decorated for Christmas. We had another yummy Christmas dinner (thanks Mary for the ham) and opened more presents!!! It is great to have my sister Angela and her family around for the holidays now. They lived further away for lots of years and now that they have kids too, they all love to play together. Check out the pictures of Kylie and her little cousin Gabriela. She follows her around and it is so cute!

--Christmas Eve night we were in Irvine with Grandma. We had more yummy food and spent the evening with the family at Grandma's church. It was a nice Christmas Eve service and the kids did fairly well. We came back and opened MORE presents and the kids learned that they would be going to LegoLand on Monday (courtesy of Grandma)....stay tuned for a post about our fun that day.

--We woke up at our house on Christmas Day. I love the look on the kids faces as they race down the stairs on Christmas morning. I seriously remember feeling that excitement when I was young. But I also remember my Dad having to get the camera ready, light a fire, start the music, etc, etc, all while we were dying to see what Santa had brought us. We try and hurry with our kids, because I remember how that felt. It was a FABULOUS relaxing day, even though it was cold and wet outside! We opened all the new things, played, and hung out. The only time we left the house was to go look at Christmas lights right before bed! I can't imagine a better day.

We hope you had a fantastic Christmas surrounded by loved ones. We are so grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifices for us. We know that He is the reason we celebrate, and we love to share that with our little ones, even with all of the other fun going on around us during the season. Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year too!)