The week of Christmas is honestly the most magical week of the year, especially now that I have kids. Our elf on the shelf has been pretty lazy lately and hasn't moved locations in a couple days (whoops!) but the kids forgive him and are still excited to find him every morning. Abby is officially on winter break from school, and Connor has loved spending more time with his sister. It's as if they know that Santa is watching cause they have been angels this week, playing together, reading together, and just being excited about Christmas together. Abby made some reindeer food out of oats, glitter and sprinkles, and Connor enjoyed being her assistant. They both were excellent helpers in the kitchen as I made dozens of cookies to hand out to our neighbors. I love seeing how excited, happy, and proud they were when we would go door to door of our neighbors, knock and say Merry Christmas while handing them a plate of cookies. Talk about melting momma's heart, they sure are being cute!
Mr. Chubs is getting bigger and bigger. He is already growing out of newborn size clothes and is in 0-3 month sizes. He too is buttering up Santa as he sleeps most of the day, and the night! I can't talk enough about how much I love kissing those fat cheeks and belly. Brayden is just channeling his inner Santa Clause cause when he laughs (or cries) his belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly.
We started a family tradition that on Christmas Eve we want to go out to eat pizza together as a family. So we went to Pizza Mossimos which has the best pizza in all of Misawa. The kids loved it, especially Connor who was chanting "pizza, pizza, pizza" during our whole meal. Afterwards we went down to Shimoda mall where Kyle finally purchased his Christmas gift of a ski outfit. He picked out a blue jacket and charcoal gray snow/ski pants. Now he will look sharp as he hits the slopes. While at the mall we stopped to grab some ice cream at Baskin Robins, and found ourselves at the arcade towards the back of the mall. All big shopping complexes in Japan have some kind of arcade with games cause the Japanese love their games! Apparently my kids are not that different cause the bright colored lights and sounds from the arcade draw my kids in everytime like a beacon light. We let the kids play a couple games and then decided it was time to get back home to get ready for Santa's arrival.
First they got their jammies on, and then we went outside to sprinkle the reindeer food on the lawn (Abby's oats and sprinkle concoction). We set out some cookies and Dr. Pepper for Santa Clause (didn't you know that Santa prefers Dr. Pepper over milk?) We tried to find Rudolph's nose while laying in our bed and looking out the window. Then it was finally time to read a couple books, sing some Christmas songs and drift off to sleep. The kids were so excited, yet so tired that they couldn't keep their eyes open despite how hard they tried. Santa had a lot of fun setting up Christmas presents while watching the New York City Ballet perform the Nutcracker on TV. It was a perfect ending to a perfect Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning came and the kids were nice enough to sleep in till 7. Santa brought Abby Princess dress up costumes and shoes, Connor received a big truck and train set, and mom and dad received a cute little baby Brayden :). It was a bit of a rushed morning since we had church at 10, so we quickly opened our gifts, ate a delicious breakfast consisting of cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage, and eggs, and got dressed in our Sunday/Christmas best for church.
We had a wonderful Sacrament meeting filled with lots of Christmas musical numbers. It was a nice time to pause after the crazy yet fun morning and remember the true meaning of Christmas. I am grateful for my Savior. He is the greatest gift to each and every one of us. Because of Him, I get to be with my cute little family forever! I truly love this time of year where kindness is everywhere and Christ is the central reason for the season.
After church we came home and relaxed the rest of the day. Calling family on the phone, playing with toys, and of course eating a delicious ham dinner filled the remainder of our evening. Abby twirled around all night in her princess dresses, and Connor lined up all his trucks while squinting and saying cheese every time I tried to take a picture. It was a wonderful Christmas where I got to celebrate it with the people I love the most. The worst part is when the day came to an end and knowing that we would have to wait a whole year for Christmas to come again. Luckily since we are a day ahead of everyone back in the states, I did get to talk to Katie the next morning which helped to extend Christmas for me. She called home from her mission in Chili to briefly talk to us all. It was wonderful to see her face and hear her voice. I am grateful for my baby sister and her example. She got to see the kids and meet little Brayden via Skype for the first time. I can't wait to give Katie a big hug and watch her be an amazing aunt to my kids when she gets back this summer.
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