Christmas Countdown

I am way behind. Christmas is going to have to be a couple of different posts, with this Countdown being the first. Our wireless adapter broke on our home computer and it's been too much of a hassle to get everything on the laptop. But since I want to get this year's blog published into a book, I need to do it. Even if we don't have any pictures from Christmas day. I guess we were too busy taking video to make up for the past few years...

This is the countdown chain Allie made at school. Every night she would take off a chain, until she was left with just a bell. It was a lot of fun to watch her chain get shorter every night.

And here is our advent calendar, which really only consisted of moving the Christmas tree to the next day. I think this was a really good way for Kyla to work on her numbers, as she always wanted to be the one to move it. Nice investment, especially considering I got it for $1.00.

Christmas is a time for treats. And we loved having someone ring the doorbell almost every night to bring us a treat. It was exciting to find out what we would be having next. And with so many of us sharing the treats, they never lasted more than one night. Carter, who loves food and treats more than anything, always knew how to get some for himself. He begs from the one person who is sure to give in--Kyla.

He also helped himself. One night, the kids left the brownies we had received on the floor in the kitchen. And the bloodhound Carter sniffed them out. By the time I found him, he had a handful and a messy face to show for it. I had to let him finish it, just for his sneakiness. We call this picture, "Hey! Unto you a child is born!" in honor of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which we read together before Christmas. Can't you just hear those words coming out of those chocolate covered lips?


We waited until Christmas Eve to take the kids to see Santa. Not on purpose, but that was the way it worked out. I wanted to go to the Riverwoods to see what they have done there (I've heard it's awesome), but Santa is only there from five to eight at night, and those times just seemed to be so busy every night. So, we ended up at the mall on Christmas Eve around noon. And there was no line to see Santa. We may have found a new tradition. Jeff took one picture. He felt bad when we weren't buying any of the rip off packages they sell, so only took one. Even though no one was waiting and I'm sure they wouldn't have cared. Oh well, it turned out cute. Carter acted as though Santa didn't exist. I don't think he even looked his way. At least he didn't cry. And Santa wanted to keep Kyla. I told him we wouldn't miss her. :)


This last picture is out of order, but we got to see the kindergarten Christmas program during the last week of school. Ah, the benefits of living in Utah. The kids still sing songs about Jesus, instead of just having a "winter festival." Allie made a cute Christmas tree, if I do say so myself.

I don't think there is anything better in the world than the excitement of kids waiting for Christmas. The anticipation is great, and we spent all month feeding the fire. We watched all kinds of Christmas movies, ate ourselves sick, and celebrated with friends and family repeatedly. Kyla wrote a letter to Santa telling him she loved him and to bring her candy. Damon asked his questions about the reality of Santa, but stopped short of demanding the truth. Deep inside, I know that he knows, but he is determined not to face the facts. I like it. And Allie changed her mind daily about what she wanted, making Santa's job much harder.

Overall, though, December was a great month and I'm sad to see it go....