Our Christmas Eve started with enjoying some delicious paninis and sipping some bubbly sparkling cider) next to the fire...which Adam just got working that day! That was a Christmas present in and of itself :)
We then packed up little Brooks & headed to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake.
Adam and I loved it, and we think we want to make that a tradition with our little family every year. I love the Christmas spirit that radiates with all of the Christmas lights...but especially from the glow of the the temple.
I should have snapped more pictures of the lights!...that place is COVERED with twinkling lights...I love it. But I was too busy hold Adam's hand in his coat pocket :)
{a beautiful nativity in the middle of the reflection pool}
Being on those grounds always brings back sweet memories of being married in the Salt Lake temple not too long ago. Isn't it stunning?
We headed home to make sure that we put cookies and milk out for Santa.
...it ended up being cookies, hot chocolate & peppermint candy icecream.
aaaaaaaaannd, we may or may not have taken a few bites & sips ourselves ;)
And just for journaling sake...you know that picture of that soft, glowing fire in the first photo? Well, it breaks my heart...but our little B burnt his fingers on the glass covering :( I had left the room to grab something real quick...and it happened...I felt SO bad!!
He was such a little trooper though, and enjoyed putting his hands in the cool water. He was pretty fussy the rest of the night, and we finally got him to go to sleep, snuggled up next to his Daddy in bed :)
I had to grab a pic of the tree, all lit up, with presents placed under...most of which are from sweet family & friends. We went with "less is more" this year :)
CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!
Du-nu-nu-nu Du-nu-nu-nu BATMAN!
Our plan was to have superhero themed Christmas PJs for out little family...I bought my and Adam's shirts to put hand-made logos for Iron Man and Wonderwoman...maybe we'll make them for New Years :)
We had fun helping Brooks open his presents :) He's still working on the unwrapping/ripping concept...he was more content with eating the paper. haha But it was so fun to see him play with his toys and read a few of his "new" books.
(Kid to Kid was pretty much Santa's workshop this year:)
The shirt in the upper-right is from our cruise! It was fun picking it out for him :)
sdf
{Santa gave our little man this fun Tonka truck and push-toy...can't wait to see him really learn how to play with it!}
{goodness I love that man's smile!}
{The linky toys were Brooks' favorite gift from Grandma and Grandpa Stum}
{Brooks is a little animal for sure! A couple of Brooks' little friends got him that shirt...TOO perfect}
{checking out the goods in his stocking}
Our main Christmas gift this year was the cruise...but Adam and I got a few fun gifts from each other, and from Santa :)
{the pic on the upper-right is actually a gift from our sis-in-law Lena...it has a charm w/ a picture of Adam & Brooks on one side, and a pic of the temple on the other..so sweet}
{that picture is for Adam's office at work...a favorite of ours}
Later Christmas day we headed to the Kjars for a Christmas feast!
We exchanged presents...and this little fabric Noah's Ark for Brooks, from Grandma & Grandpa Kjar, is pretty much the cutest thing on the face of the planet
{Brooks loves his Aunt Katie (upper-left)}
LATE that night my family came into town!! (Dad, Mom, Corrie, & Celeste) It was SO GOOD to enjoy a wonderful Sunday with them. They live in Washington, and it had been about 5 months since we had seen my Dad or Celeste...they loved seeing how much Brooks has grown and how much more he plays and interacts with you! Oh I love how the holidays bring families together :)
{upper left: Corrie
upper right: Mom & Dad
bottom: Adam, Haley, Celeste}
I adore my parents...such adorable little love birds :)
After our BIG lunch, snuggling and naps quickly followed...
Then came the introduction of the Tim-Tam slam.
Remember when I wrote about them here?? Go and see how it's done :)
Remember when I wrote about them here?? Go and see how it's done :)
{Corrie = new Tim-Tam model don't you think?}
{And this time we had them with hot-cocoa...OH MY.}
Then we played a fun game of Pictionary-Telephone!
Kind of hard to explain...but everyone starts with their own pile of papers equal to the number of people playing...they write a word or phrase...everyone passes their pile to next person on their right reads the word/phrase, moves it to the back of the pile, then draws their what they read...everyone passes their piles again, and they write down on the next sheet what they think the drawing is...and repeat...until everyone has their own piles.
It turns out pretty hilarious! I love to see the creativity of people, and the way we interpret the phrases and drawings :)
Here are a few fun examples:
{top: Hansel & Gretel
bottom: animal shaped pancakes}
{top: Avatar
bottom: T-rex --> Trogdor the Burninator}
bahaha
And I just had to share these sweet photos of Brooks with his Grandpa Stum...my Dad is SO great with his grandkids. I have a pretty feeling they'll be good buddies as little B gets older.
{lower-left picture Grandpa is showing Brooks his watch..."And this is the barometric pressure." heehee You're too cute Dad}
What a FANTASTIC holiday weekend :)
How lucky are we that we could spend time with the Kjars AND the Stums?? :) We 're so blessed to have such wonderful families.
And even though Christmas is over...I'm going to do my best to keep the spirit alive through the year...the spirit of giving...the spirit of Christ.
PS - Brooks and I, along with my parents, Corrie & Celeste are heading down to St. George for a few days to spend time with my brother and his family. I'm SO excited!!! Just sad that my other half wont' be joining us. (Adam has to work...boo. But I am grateful for his job, and how hard he works for our family!) So, I'm signing off for a few days. Chao! :)
