Christmas Recap

This Christmas was a delight...here are the highlights:

Paul's Mom came for a few days to spoil us with her great cooking and her grandma hugs!

We all got dressed up to attend a beautiful Mass at the Cathedral. The church was so packed that we had to go downstairs and watch the service on a big screen TV! At first I was annoyed by this, but then I realized how happy I should be that so many people came to "Christ's Mass" on Christmas. Deep down I think that all people know what is truly important when Christmas comes: faith in Christ. I hope some of those "once-a-year-Catholics" were touched so deeply by Christ that they start attending Mass every Sunday. Wouldn't it be awesome if the church had standing room only every week!?

Dominic had his preschool Christmas program while Grandma Jean was here, so he was delighted to show off his singing and dancing skills for her. He is our most out-going child and loves to perform...I wonder what God wants him to be when he grows up.

This year we started a new tradition of having a Christmas recital at our house with our closest friends. Joseph, Michael, and Dominic each played a few piano songs. Michael even sang while he played his Christmas songs...he loves to sing!

And even I was brave enough to play one song on the piano during the recital! I asked our friend Glen to accompany me on the violin to cover up any mistakes I made :) Glen is a very gifted musician...he can't read music, but he can play anything by ear on the piano, fiddle or guitar! His lovely wife Lisa is also musically gifted and she played a few songs on the piano while the rest of us sang along.

Another new tradition this year was to go Christmas-light-sight-seeing. Our favorite house was Dominic's preschool teacher's. Her house was programmed to music, so different lights flashed on and off to the beat of a few different Christmas songs. None of us had ever seen anything like that before, so it was really impressive. We brought along hot cocoa and cookies to snack on while we watched, and we hope to do this every Christmas in the future!

Of course, opening presents was one of the highlights of Christmas... And this year's favorite gift was from Grandma Jean. She took the boys on a shopping date for new bikes...bikes with breaks and gears on the handle bars! Grandma even took the boys out for lunch at a fancy restaurant afterwards...so it was double-special date and a memory I don't think the boys will forget. Thanks, Grandma Jean!

The favorite gift for the whole family was the new Wii video game, compliments of the money my parents sent us for Christmas. We really struggled with whether or not to buy a video game for the kids, but after talking with other friends who have the Wii, we decided it would be a good choice. So far we have not been sorry at all for the purchase. The whole family is loving it! Even Paul and I sneak downstairs to challenge each other to a few games once the kids are tucked it! It really has been promoting family togetherness as we all play it together. The only games we have so far are the Sports games that came with the Wii and a Major League Baseball game, all of which will keep us moving on our feet during the long winter months in Montana. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Nathanael's favorite Christmas present was the chocolate candy from his stocking. Well, actually it was chewing on the soft plastic lid of the candy container. He was easy to please this year :)

Nathanael was also thrilled with the new book he received. He loved all the excitement of present-opening-time, even though he was clueless what was going on :)

Dominic's favorite gift was the new blue whale stuffed animal he received...can you tell he's smitten with it? :)

Paul's favorite gift was the special picture frame that Joseph wood-burned for him at at school. Paul took it to work to put on his desk and show off the detailed F4-Phantoms that Joseph wood-burned with such skill.

My favorite gift this Christmas was learning how to ski! Paul bought me 3 lessons at our nearby ski hill, and we were able to go up to the hill with the older boys while Grandma Jean babysit the two younger boys. It was a lot of fun! I'm still a beginner compared to our fearless little boys and my hot snowboarding husband, but hopefully I'll be able to keep up with them soon!

One tradition that remained the same this Christmas was our cat Arwen's past-time of stalking and killing our Christmas ornaments :) Unfortunately, her favorite prey are the homemade ornaments the boys made with their cute school pictures in them. Next year, will someone please remind me to put those ornaments way at the top of the tree?