Christmas Eve

We had a Christmas treat for breakfast to get us all in the mood for Santa.  Ryland and Reed were so excited to see Santa on their plates.

 

 

I found the Santa pancake idea on Pintrest, and John Chris and I had fun putting them together.

 

 

Later that afternoon when Reed and John Chris napped, Ryland and I worked on a little baking.  We have the cutest gingerbread cookie cutters that assemble to create a three dimensional reindeer, sleds, snowmen, and trees.  Since the dough had to be chilled for a few hours, we were really excited to get started.  After a few failed attempts to cut out the shapes, we decided to go another route.

 

Reindeer poop!  It was so obvious to me at this moment that God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with boys. Ryland and I laughed hysterically and couldn't wait to try them.

 

We all got dressed in our "handsome" clothes and headed to church. Unfortunately, church was packed when we arrived, and the sanctuary was already at max capacity.  We decided to come back for the next service, so we had about an hour to burn.  Just enough time to swing by the grocery store for Vanilla Bean ice cream and deliver a few gifts.

 

The later Christmas Eve service was completely full as well, but we were there in time to find seats.  The music was beautiful and the lighting of the candles to Silent Night was absolutely breathtaking.  It is my favorite moment at church every year.

 

We headed home to get the last little things together for Santa.  Ryland and Reed spread the reindeer food all over the side yard to make sure the reindeer were full for their long night.

 

 

One last attempt to capture a cute picture of the boys in their Santa pajamas and rain boots 

 

 

We headed out to take another look at the beautiful Christmas lights.  Reed requested to see Santa, so we drove to the over the top house in our neighborhood.  They have a huge Santa sitting in a chair with about a million lights all over their house and yard.

 

Ryland was out.

 

We couldn't go to bed without leaving Santa some delicious cookies and a Coke.  Lizzie and Pops had a Christmas Eve present for us to open, and it was a cute glass plate just perfect for Santa's treat.  Ryland also wanted to leave Santa the pictures he and Reed had colored earlier.

 

 

 

Tree lighting

For the past few years we have watched the lighting of the Christmas tree in Town Square.  In the past it seems like we stood around waiting forever, so we came prepared this year.  We had the double stroller packed, only to be there for about 45 minutes. I was worth the trip though, and it really gets you in the spirit.

 

 

Reed, Benton, and Ryland liked all the lights, but they really just wanted to roll around on the grass. I tried so hard to get a cute picture of them.

Christmas glasses

Nana gave all of us a pair of crazy Christmas glasses. When you wear them, all lights turn into stars. We all put on our shades to check our tree.
All the lights are stars! This is crazy cool.

John Chris and I had the great idea of driving through the neighborhood with the glasses on of course. We headed to Starbucks for a coffee and hot chocolate and then off to star gaze. It was a wonderful family outing to get us in the Christmas spirit.

One note - The glasses should come with a disclaimer about wearing them while driving. Hahaha! Crazy!

Christmas lighting in Town Square

We enjoyed some Christmas spirit tonight in Town Square. We attempted a family photo right as Ryland spotted an airplane.

The tree didn't impress Ryland, but the horse drawn carriages and Santa were a hit.

Outside lighting

The project for today was our outside lighting. The previous owner had up lights installed, but they were not operational and several of the light brackets were broken and hidden in the bushes. We didn't expect much of it to be salvageable, but we were pleasantly surprised. All of the electrical wiring worked, so we just needed to replace all of the fixtures. We are so pleased to have another project done, and we love it.

Christmas light prep party

We had our annual Christmas light prep party for our community tonight. John Chris and I host the prep party every year and this was our third annual party. We have our neighbors over and we check the lights to make sure they are working and the clips are installed. We had a great turn out this year, and it was nice to visit and chit chat with everyone.

I could not help but think that this would be our last year to host the party. I wonder if the people who buy our home will host the party next year. I hope they will continue the tradition.

Hanging Christmas lights

John Chris takes Cooper for a ride in the cherry picker. Our house is in the background with the lights finally done. It is so festive. Merry Christmas!
Boys and their toys. I think they like to hang the lights just so they can play with the cherry picker.