Christmas 2014

Christmas Eve always feels busy to me. This year we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. When we got home we made Santa cookies, hang up stockings, took our family Christmas tree pictures, the kids opened their PJ’s, we put out cookies, and Tyson read the kids The Night Before Christmas. We were going to go to a friend’s house for a visit but we ran out of time. I think next year I am going to get cookie dough for Santa instead of making cookies from scratch to save some time. Tyson and I had a late night trying to get everything ready for the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning was fun. The kids were excited about their presents. Bennett spent most of the morning in his car. Then we opened the slide and he spent the rest of the day on that. Lilly liked everything she got and everything Bennett got. She played with all of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a yummy ham dinner and invited the missionaries. We thought it would be nice for them to have somewhere to go for Christmas dinner but I guess they had been to several other peoples home that day and they were not hungry. They hardly ate anything. But we did get to use our beautiful new dishes.

It was another nice Christmas. The kids got spoiled. I think the next year we will focus more on the amount of gifts given instead of the price limit. I kept finding things on sale. I think the price limit is for when the kids are older and they are asking for expensive items. 
 

 

 

 

The Month of December

During the month of December we try to take advantage of all the Christmas activities our area offers. One activity we always enjoy attending is the Village of East Davenport Christmas Walk. The Village of East Davenport is a shopping area with beautiful shops and restaurants that overlook the Mississippi River. During the Christmas Walk they have a nativity with live animals you can pet, Christmas characters walking around, holiday window displays in the stores, yummy treats, activities for the kids, and you can visit Santa at the firehouse. It is usually cold and we don’t last long with the kids but it is still worth the visit.

 

We also make sure to stop at our local garden center, Wallace’s. They have a bouncy house set up inside and a winter wonder land for kids to play in. We go there a couple of times just to enjoy the bouncy house in the warmth.

 

 

Two new activities we tried this year was Lighting on the Commons at the John Deere Pavilion and the Symphony of Lights. The Lighting on the Commons had free carriage rides, kid’s crafts, Santa visits, cookies and hot chocolate and it was concluded with turning on the Christmas lights and fireworks. We didn’t make it to the fireworks. I can’t remember the reason though.

The Symphony of Lights is a park you can drive through with Christmas lights. Lilly and Bennett loved seeing the lights. We picked a busy weekend though. Next year we will go during the week.

 

December also means Tyson and Lilly’s annual ginger bread house, mailing letters to Santa, decorating the tree, the ward Christmas party, new Christmas outfits and a lot of present wrapping. Bennett tried really hard to help but we just ended up with a mess.  Tyson also made festive deer cut outs for our front yard.

 

 

 

 

The pictures of the new Christmas outfits that look okay:

 

All the pictures in between: 

 

This is why you don't let your 1 year old try to help with the ribbon.

 

 

Lilly also had another preschool program. They call their Christmas program ‘Happy Birthday Jesus’. I also feel bad because I didn’t know that Christmas programs mean you should dress you child up in their Christmas dress/outfits. I guess I didn’t get that mommy memo.  

Lilly is to the right of the star.

 

Lilly is sitting next to her best school friend, Gabby.

 

Thanksgiving Parade and Disney on Ice

This year I really wanted to go to the Quad Cities Thanksgiving Parade. It is the largest helium-balloon parade in the Midwest. It was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and was perfect fall weather. I haven’t wanted to go the previous years because it is usually cold.

We bundled the kids up in the stroller, walked across the Sky Bridge and found a nice spot at the end of the parade. It was a lot of fun watching all the balloons and Santa Clause came at the end. Lilly was a little sad they weren’t handing out candy like they do on the 4^th of July but she did get some stickers from a clown.

 

 

Another fun activity that Lilly and I were able to do this year was going to Disney on Ice. It is always fun to do things with just Lilly and me. She enjoyed herself. She got a little bored towards the end but didn’t ask for any of the really expensive Disney toys which was nice. We did accidently get free parking. Although I don’t really feel bad about it since they were charging $10. Last time we went to a show it was $3.