Christmas 2013~

Zapper, the elf returned in fashion the week after Thanksgiving.  Like last year Zapper came with new jammies and a letter from the big SC himself.  This officially kicked off the holiday season for the kids.

We spent Christmas Eve Day with Alex's family here in town.  The kids opened presents, and we enjoyed a great meal by Alex's mom.

Then we came home and got all dressed up for Christmas Eve service at our church.  It is my favorite service of the entire year.  I wanted a picture of the kids in their Christmas Eve outfits.  It was next to impossible to accomplish, but the sequence is funny to look back on;-)

 FINALLY!  A keeper, and they both look civilized in it.

 Before we left, Rowan sprinkled reindeer food on the front lawn for a little snack for Santa's reindeer!

 When we turned onto our street after church, one of our neighbors had placed luminaries around the entire neighborhood.  This picture does not do it justice, but it was a sight.  We have such awesome neighbors.

After church, we heated up the fondue pot, and we all shared some yummilicious chocolate fondue.  The kids loved it, and they just about licked the pan clean!

Then it was deep sleeps so Santa could come deliver his magic!  I snuck into the kids' bedrooms to see both of the children sound asleep!  So peaceful!

Santa made his delivery, and we woke up bright and early to open presents!

On Christmas Day, we headed to my parent's house to celebrate with my family.  All of the cousins were there, and we had a fantastic 2 days celebrating the birth of our Savior.  The kids came home exhausted and loved.  

And just like that, Christmas 2013 was here and gone~

Christmas 2012~

Christmas came!!  We had our little family Christmas on Christmas morning.  It was just us, and it was just perfect!  The kids had so much fun, and I love that they get to wake up in their own bed and see that Santa came to our house:-) 

Santa came!

Sweet boy~

Sassy and I waiting our turn~

Sassy loved her cradle that Santa brought her!

 Next we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Darby's house for lunch and Christmas #2!  We spent the afternoon there and had a yummy lunch that Grandma Darby made!  The kids were blessed again with many presents!

Rowan and Grandma cuddling!

Rowan got a real drill from Grandma and Grandpa.  He's excited to work:-)

Aunt Reesa reading Pete the Cat!

Rowan schooling Grandma on his Nabi tablet!

Cuddling up with Grandpa!

We had a couple of days playing with our new toys before my family came to our house on Friday for Christmas #3!  It was fantastic to have my parents and all of their kids and grandkids together!  We had fun, ate prime rib my brother made and played cards!  It was truly a fantastic day!                                                                                                                                                 

Sassy with her stack!

Dad, Tyler, and Kemper!

Heather and the kids with their piles;-)

This girl loves her Poppy!  It is so sweet!

Rowan stacks all of his presents.  Makes me laugh!

Uncle Tyler showing Rowan how to shoot his new bow and arrow!

All of the cousins!  Kemper, Rowan, Tayte, Isla, CJ, and Kynlee

Silly faces!!!

We are so blessed and fortunate to have our families close and to be able to see them for the holidays!  It was a fabulous holiday season at the Darby house!

Now on to 2013!  It's going to be a great year!!

Christmas Tradition~

It is 8:07 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and my heart is just at ease.  I absolutely adore the season of Christmas with the lights, the decorations, beautiful music, and most importantly the celebration of the birth of our Savior!

While I have memories of Christmas from my own childhood, these memories are often filled with fighting over who had to go milk the cows on Christmas morning, a house filled with smoke due to the wood-burning stove, or the disappointment that we couldn't travel anywhere for the holiday season yet again.  Santa was always good to us, but there just wasn't that magical feeling that I so think Christmas should bring.

I love creating tradition for my own kids, so they have no doubt in their mind this is how you celebrate Christmas!  We keep it simple and enjoy the blessings we have in each other.

Rowan and I made reindeer food for Santa's reindeer to snack on when they finally reach our house!

The recipe is:
1 cup of dry oats
1/2 cup of sugar
3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
Sprinkles for color

Sprinkle it all across your lawn on Christmas Eve for Santa's reindeer!

He did all of the measuring!

Looks so yummy, I just might eat it!

We have decided fondue is our Christmas Eve dinner of choice. It is delicious and certainly a special treat in our house. Rowan loves to dip things, and he actually requests this for special meals. We did the broth and cheese courses before we left for church! Rowan requested the shrimp cocktail as well, and he ate 8 shrimp before he was full!
 

Yummo!

Happy Heart!

Then it was off to get dressed up for church!  Christmas Eve service is by far my favorite service of the entire year.  I look forward to it, and I am always so uplifted by the joyous tone and the beautiful music.  It makes my heart happy to say the least! 

Each year I take a picture of the kids in front of the tree. Then I have an 8x10 printed to hang on my wall. It's my little bit of Christmas all year round. Isla was a challenge this year, but we got 2 good ones!

They really do love each other~

This one just melts my heart~

We sprinkled out our reindeer food for Santa's friends.

Then it was off to church.  The service was perfect and ended in candlelight.  My favorite~

Then we were home for our chocolate fondue. The kids loved it!

This kid would have preferred a spoon for the chocolate;-)  She must be my daughter!

Then it was off to bed for sleeps so Santa could make his rounds! Speaking of which, Santa had better make his rounds here soon!

Merry Christmas!!