christmas 2016

another christmas has come and gone! my favorite time of year is coming to a close and as always it's a mixture of sadness and relief. haha. over the years i have come to realize i love the anticipation and the weeks leading up to christmas more than the actual holiday. so, that's interesting :) having just returned from our trip to minneapolis, it was so nice for us to re-connect with thatcher and relax as a family for a few days, with no where to be. 

christmas eve started as a slow morning before i headed to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for our dinners saturday and sunday and our sunday breakfast. luckily our grocery store is really close to our house, so i could walk there...because it was packed. probably the most crowded i've ever seen it. oof! i grabbed our stuff as quickly as possible and ran out of there. thatcher spent the morning making cookies for santa with the kids. it's a fun tradition we've picked up a few years ago no matter how many sweets we already have in the house. the kids loved helping and decorating the cookies. of course we had to do a quality check to make sure they were "santa grade" :) 

 

azalea painted her own "rainbow" nails :) 

thatcher went out in the afternoon to run a couple last minute "errands" (ahem). the kids napped and i relaxed. in the evening we made an appetizer feast: bbq meatballs, crackers with cheese and sausage, smoked salmon, chips and guacamole, and fruit. it was easy and delicious! for dessert we had an assortment of sweets that we have accumulated. 

we skyped with uncle anders and aunt nith in laos, and chatted on the phone with thatcher's parents and grandparents. 

we let the kids each open two gifts, which they were excited about. (they were asking allll day if it was time). 

santa's helper does not like to wear pants ;) 

we watched "how the grinch stole christmas" and soon it was time to put out the cookies and milk for santa and head to bed! 

sometime in the night...

the kids slept until after 7am, which was a nice treat. as soon as they were awake, the bounded into the living room to see if he had come!  

after the santa excitement, we made a breakfast of pancakes, cinnamon rolls, eggs, and bacon. yum! then we opened the rest of the gifts: 

 in the afternoon, thatcher took ashford to carkeek beach while azalea and i napped on the couch together. they had a great time (a train came through!) and thatcher took some really great pictures: 

in the evening, we made a ham with mashed sweet potatoes, roasted carrots, and rolls. the kids didn't like any of it, but thatcher and i did ;) the kids each got a lego set for christmas, so thatcher spent many hours on sunday helping them build.

a couple other tidbits before i wrap up this post, here is our 2016 christmas card. i have a book of all of our past cards back in minneapolis and i can't wait to add the last 2 years to it eventually. 

and here are the cards our friends and family have sent us. it's more full now than when i took this picture. have i mentioned i love this time of year?!

we don't have any plans for new years, so i'm guessing it will involve lots of eating and maybe some board games and movies. hope you had a wonderful holiday!