A Recap of the Holidays

So I neglected the blog again. Hopefully I can catch up a bit and keep up with it this time around.

We had a wonderful holiday season. I was actually sad when Christmas came around because I was enjoying the time leading up to it so much.

We kicked off the season early with the arrival of Santa at the mall and visiting the Meijer Gardens before Thanksgiving.  We also visited with Santa at the Meijer Gardens where Amelia asked for a dog, a REAL dog! Santa nicely told her that dogs are too squirmy and wouldn't stay in his bag. He wouldn't want the puppy to fall out of the sleigh and get cold and wet from the snow.

This year we tried something new - rather than just putting treats into the advent calendar, I also included an activity or small present each day, such as socks, a Christmas book, or decoration. The girls really enjoyed the activities and on days they merely received a present, Allison would ask if they could do an activity instead.

Some of the advent calendar activities we did included: making a ginger bread house (now a yuletide family tradition), attending a family party at Allison's school, making cookies, going to the zoo and bringing presents for the animals, watching Christmas classics, and even buying a present for Toys for Tots.

The girls participated in our church Christmas program this year which was sweet and very touching. I have to admit during the service I thought about the families of those who lost a loved one in the Sandy Hook tragedy and I had a very time holding it together - which wasn't a good thing since I was up on the alter with the kids helping out.  At times the Sandy Hook tragedy made it very hard for me to be festive this holiday season since I carried a heavy heart during those weeks. However, it did make me realize how I can't take things for granted and that I have to celebrate these times I have with my family to the fullest.  

Christmas came around and it was full of celebrations. We had a great time visiting with both of our families. Once again the girls were spoiled with a lot of attention and presents. Allison and Amelia even got to see Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Dale, and their cousins Stephanie and Heather, who all flew in from Arizona.