White Christmas

I was SO excited to have a white Christmas this year! We had the perfect snowfall Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to make me completely content hanging out inside, in pajamas most of the day.
I know everyone says this, but Christmas just continues to get more magical having a little guy to share it with. It's so fun to discover these things for the first time and learn about the magic of the season. He clearly didn't grasp the concept, but loved all of the sparkly lights, the fun music, and cool decorations, especially Mor Mor and Grandpa's village display.
Christmas Eve we spent the early afternoon prepping our Christmas Eve dinner and cleaning up the house and ourselves. Everything turned out super yummy and right on schedule so everything was hot! I have to give a little bit of the timing credit to myself - I made a conscious effort to time it right and it actually worked!
While we were finishing up we had White Christmas (one of my favorite movies) playing in the background. I was so proud of my boys for enjoying it! haha

cheesy Christmas outfits - I couldn't resist. Carter's sweater was Brad's when he was little!

Carter opening a gift from Mor Mor and Grandpa - he LOVES to help Mor Mor clean

It was so fun setting up Christmas this year - especially with the tool set!

Christmas morning was a blast and Carter enjoyed helping everyone open their presents. He was spoiled this year with tools, balls, books, and puzzles. He's really grasping the idea of puzzles and loving it! I feel so proud as I watch him do his puzzles and browse through his books!

Carter helping the men shovel

Christmas was so much fun, sharing and celebrating with the family. We had some unfortunate drama that threw off the night and caused a bit of heartache, but through prayer and focusing on the positive, we were able to enjoy the company of those that were there and pray for those that weren't. We are hoping our family will start growing some more sooner than later so Carter can have some siblings and cousins to share these memories with on this side! 

I am so grateful for this time of year and the special effort we make to spend time together, give, and serve one another. I pray every year that I will be able to continue to improve every year as I try to help our family focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 

A few days later we had the chance to get together with my high school friends and their little families. It was so fun to see everyone! It's so great to see how much our crew has grown over the years!