Merry Memories

Overall we had a very good Christmas. It was quiet and relaxing.
Brandon playing with his hot wheels road he got.

Anson was pretty excited about getting two new DS games.

Cameron it always happy when he gets Lego.

The centerpiece that Anson made at school.

The ornament that Cameron received from his teacher.

Brandon coloring a picture to send to his Grandma Peters.

The Nativity that Cameron set up. Doug's Grandpa made the wooden figurines, and Cameron built the barn using his own blocks.

It's our yearly tradition to make a gingerbread house. Anson was a little bored of it this year, so lets see how many more years we'll be doing this.

My perfectionist husband had to do it just right, but the boys did some of it just right imperfectly too.

Our Christmas was Merry.

Time flies when you are busy. I felt a little unprepared for Christmas this year. In mid September I started my training as a CSR at the bank. I worked full time for six weeks and came to the conclusion that if having a full time career and being a Mom is having "it all", then I don't want "it all". Right after my training Doug went for major knee surgery. In the midst of working, feeling like a single parent at times, I was suppose to try and get ready for Christmas. Well 9 days before Christmas, Doug had a follow up appointment for his knee in the city and I was able to start and finish my shopping. We only had a small budget this year, so we weren't able to do a lot. The day after we got back from the city we found out that the transmission on our van needs to be replaced. Fixing that along with other things that need repairs on that van would cost just as much as replacing the van so needless to say we are unexpectedly shopping for a different family vehicle. We have gone through a difficult past few months, but can see that God is showing us things in us that aren't very pretty, things that that need to be changed. I'm so glad that God loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Also in the past few months we have been so blessed by family, friends and the Church family. I'm so overwhelmed by people's goodness and God's goodness to us. I feel so undeserving of it, but am very grateful for it.

Christmas did come whether I felt ready or not. We were able to celebrate at home with the boys first thing in the morning. I thought that the boys were at an age where the excitement would make them wake up super early, but surprisingly the slept until quarter to eight. We read Matthew's account on the birth of Jesus and then we opened the few gifts. The boys went Christmas shopping with the school again this year. They get to go to the Salvation Army thrift store and buy anything for $5 and under for a quarter. It was neat to see what the boys picked out for each other and for us, and they were so excited to give those gifts. From Cameron I received a brand new home interiors candle in a jar. Not my favourite scent, but special none the lest. From Anson I got a pepper shaker of a Chinese looking cat.. He thought it was neat looking and so do I.


After our family time we headed over to Doug's parents. Doug's Mom is on crutches so his sister and I did a lot of the meal preparations. It wasn't actually that much work. I'm not one who desires to be in the kitchen all of Christmas day. I would rather keep the meals simpler and spend more time hanging out as a family. And thankfully that was the case this year. At Doug's parents house we usually read Luke's account on the birth of Jesus and then everyone gets to pick a favourite carol and we sing the first verse, then we open gifts. The boys always seems to enjoy themselves even if they don't have any cousins to play with. Maybe if they did, they would bug poor uncle Rhys so much.

Anson and Cameron showing off some of their loot. Cameron was thrilled to get a Calgary flames shirt. Doug is not a a flames fan at all, Cameron choose that team because his friend with the same name as him cheers for them. We'll see how long he stays a fan.

Brandon is crazy about trains (and balls). He loves his new train set and even goes to bed with the trains.

It was a very special Christmas. I love spending it with my boys. But most of all I'm so thankful for Jesus - the greatest gift ever given. I don't know how I would deal with life's circumstances without him.

Christmas Time Fun

Christmas holidays have arrived for the boys, and for me too in a way. No more running to and fro. Today Anson asked to play PlayStation, which is not unusual because he could play video games and computer games all day if he was allowed. What was unusual was that Cameron also wanted to play, he could care less about video games. Anyway I thought that it was kind of cute when Brandon took an extra controller and joined them in ATV off road fiery.
It is nice to have the boys home all day long, but with it being -30 and not being able to send them outside to play the day does get kind of long. I need to think of some creative things to keep them occupied during their break from school. Any suggestions?

This year we didn't have a Sunday School Christmas program at Church. Instead we went to two different apartments for seniors and did some caroling for them. It was a lot of fun and a blessing to the seniors.

Cameron loves to help out whenever possible. I had a lot of fun making cut out cookies with him. I also thought that it would be fun to decorate a gingerbread house with the boys. I think that Anson and Cameron had a lot of fun, but Brandon just whined the whole time, and the roof didn't want to stay put, so it was quite frustrating for me, but that could be because I'm not the most patient person.

The Christmas season is a lot of fun, especially when you have children, they just add to the excitement.

Christmas Day

We started off Christmas morning reading Luke's account of Jesus' birth. We then proceeded to open the gifts. We discovered the day before that Anson and Cameron believed that Santa was going to bring them presents, even after stressing to them repeatedly that their is no such thing as Santa. Anyway Doug explained to them again what Christmas is all about and that the presents were from us because we love them and not from Santa. They seemed okay with that. Maybe next year we can research Christmas traditions with them and how certain things came to be, like Santa.
Brandon's first Christmas he seemed more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual gifts. But he still seems to like the new ride on toy that he got.

Anson and Cameron got a lot of 'Cars' toys this year. They still love anything to do with 'Cars'

We still like to go to Grandma's house for Christmas (and Grandpa's)...

After we were done our family Christmas celebrations we headed over to Doug's mom and dad's for food and more presents. We also read of Jesus' birth from the Bible, sang carol's, and some even went for a snowmobile ride. It was a very nice day and a great way to celebrate our savior's birth.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we had Doug's family over for supper. After supper we opened stockings which is tradition. The boys really enjoyed themselves and Brandon even got into it...kind of. He just crawled around grabbing his brothers things. We also attended EBC's annual candlelight Christmas Eve service. Which is always a blessing.

School Christmas Program

Anson's first school Christmas program went really well. He knew all the words to song. Our hearts filled with pride as we watched him.

Church Christmas program

On Sunday we had our annual Christmas program at Church and the whole family got to participate this year. Anson and Cameron were cute little shepherds and Doug and I were Joseph and Mary and Brandon was baby Jesus. Different people read the Christmas story out of the Bible and we just acted it out. I much prefer to just sit and watch but it was still fun to be involved, but more importantly it was great to see the boys having a lot of fun doing it. At one point the shepherds and the angels sang Away in a manger and did the actions for it. It was kind of hard to do the actions holding onto staffs, so our cute little shepherds dropped their staffs a few times. Good thing it was really laid back and people found it funny, I know I couldn't help but giggle.
Even though Christmas time can get quite busy, I think that it is so important to remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. It's all about Jesus our king who came to earth in such a humble way.

O Christmas Tree

After the Christmas tree was up I put Brandon beside it to see what he would do. He did grab it, but I don't think that he really liked the feel of it because he hasn't grabbed it since. The tree skirt does get dragged around the livingroom sometimes though.

We decorated the tree with Anson and Cameron. They had a blast! And they worked together so well as a team, it was really neat to see. As you can see most of the decorations ended up on one branch at the bottom. Nothing can compare to a child at Christmas, it is so wonderful the joy and excitement they have this time of year.