So what are all your plans for Christmas? What about Christmas break with the kids out of school? I am really wanting to do some fun things with the kids while Nikoli is out of school. If you have any fun ideas, I would love to hear them. What are your favorite family traditions? I don't know that I have made any tradition all that concrete. When I was very young, my family would act out the Nativity on Christmas eve. I would generally get to be Mary. That was fine until Baby Jesus went from being played by a doll to my little brother! Who wants to be their little brothers mother?! Then we would all open one gift. Christmas morning was for all the other gift exchanges and Mom would always make a huge breakfast. Then the family dinner at whoever's house. It was fun. I am the 6th of 7 children, so when all the older siblings moved out we ran out of actors for the whole scene and that tradition kind of dwindled. Now I have my own family and I really want some concrete traditions for the kids to look forward to as children and reflect on as adults. Please share any of your favorite traditions.
Merry Christmas!
Nikoli
What an amazing big brother! He is so caring and compassionate towards his siblings. I am thrilled to have Nikoli as my oldest baby.
Lije
What a happy baby boy! He wants to do everything Zion and Nikoli does. I'm so glad he's ours.
Shhhhhh
Sweet little Nikoli back in '05
Sweet Baby Zy
Luckily, we had a few pics saved on disks. So, here are some old pics just to spice things up a bit.
Happy Birthday, Zion!
Peek-a-boo! I bought this playpen right before we left so Elijah could sleep in it. Unfortunately, he had different plans. He slept with me both nights! Well, the first night I wouldn't exactly say he slept much. He sure is a cutee, though!
Zion had enough of this campout! We are pretty sure she got into some stinging nettle Thursday night and both she and Elijah were up all night screaming and crying. It was no fun, especially for poor Zion. This is a picture of her when we were on our way home. She's so tired!
Upper Mesa Falls
Aren't they gorgeous?!
Becoming One With Nature
I think Zion was actually playing dead. You can't see it in the picture, but she has her tongue sticking out and hanging to the side like a dead dog. What a funny girl!
Mesa Falls
We had so much fun, here. It is so pretty! Even Elijah had a ball.
Nikoli on the swing
Nikoli's Suncatchers's
Swing Time
Elijah loves the swing!
Zion in the Sand
Zion loves a sandbox!
Nikoli's bubble
Nikoli won a contest for the biggest bubble!
Our Three Works of Art
Fun in the Sun
Scott
Rhett, Chris, and Aaron (Yes, Rhett, you have nice buns)
Tyler
Steve
Tara, Ashley, and Boen
Ty
Amber
Eric
Tiffini
Jordan and Jamie (Tiffini's husband)
Abigail
Shanna LOVES to camp! Can you tell?
Hot Momma!
Happy Birthday, Maea!
Dad
Daryl and Tiffini
Little Miss Makayla made this at the craft table. It has a metal back and magnets.
Grandma and Grandpa Staten
Steve, Elijah, Jordan and Daryl
Tiffini, Lori and Brittany working at the craft table.
Kylie and Nicole. It's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to get a serious pose out of these two!
Grandma Staten
Mom and Grandpa Staten
Vanessa and Tauni
Aunt Kris was visiting from Canada with Vanessa. It was great to see her again. If you can't tell, the only camera I had the first night was my phone's camera, so they aren't the best quality.
Lori had a birthday party for Maea while we were there. It was the only time I could get Nikoli to stick around long enough for me to get a picture.
Elijah at the Table
He was so proud of himself for climbing up to the table.
Nikoli with his diarama of the African Elephant
Nikoli
~*~*~*ZION*~*~*~
Nikoli
Elijah-bo-bijah
6 comments:
Well...if you visit my blog you've probably seen most of our traditions. We do the gingerbread house the first part of December. Then my sisters and Mom and I do a goodie exchange around the time of the Nordstrom Christmas Party. We always go for a drive around town seeking out cool Christmas light displays. Then on Christmas Eve- after spending it with the inlaws, the boys get to open 1 present (pj's and a Christmas themed book, movie or game). Whew! That's it in a nutshell. :)
Some of the traditions we have are: the night that we put up our Christmas tree, we all have a slumber party in the living room. We watch Christmas movies and eat popcorn and the kids get to stay up late ('til about 10pm). Then we all sleep around the tree. We also do the PJ's and book/movie on Christmas Eve but I also add a photo ornament. Each year, I make or buy an ornament and put our family picture from that year in it and put it in Cory's PJ present. Then I make individual ones for each kid and put in their PJ present. They love getting them out each year and looking through them as we put them on the tree.
Traditions change from year to year, like when we were in Utah we would go to breakfast with my dad and whatever siblings were there to Denny's (then I hop for a change) and we would also go to a Christmas Eve party with Randal's family, who liked to open everything that night, and we would only have a few things because we like to open ours Christmas morning. When there is cause there is one present opened on Christmas Eve, or if our kids talk us into it. Other than that nothing big. I miss having family close sometimes, but I like just us too.
I did this for a few years, you get all your christmas books, (during the year you might need to be on the lookout if you don't have a lot) on Dec 1st you wrap up each book and put them in a basket and then each night you let the kids pick one to open and read. It is a fun countdown and bedtime story. My kids really liked that when they were little. We also go for a drive on Christmas eve and look at the lights. I try to find some before hand that are good. It relaxes the kids and gets them tired so they will go to bed! (kind of) :)
Wow - fun to see your blog again. Your kids are adorable as always! We also do the Nativity tradition on Christmas Eve and every year we eat grapefruit and sweet rolls for breakfast together before opening gifts. (Not sure why those foods). I loved the one about wrapping up the Christmas books - I might have to steal that one!
Hey girl good to see another blog from you. I am the same as you I can't seem to keep up with some of these blogging gurus. But at least we update every few months right. Hope you had a great christmas. Love you guys.
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