Christmas 2016

Christmas season this year was magical and BUSY. We seemed to rarely have a free evening with all of the activities and parties going on. 

Brianna is at a wonderfully fun age. An age when she is beginning to understand the magic of Christmas and Santa Claus. 

The first weekend of December there was a tree lighting festival at the mall in Fort Collins. Holly came with us and we made a sister night out of it (Ryan was out of town)! It was a cold evening, but the girls were plenty cozy all bundled up in their new puffy coats!

We got to see reindeer! 

While we were in line to see Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus said a personal "hello!" to Maya and Brianna. They were excited to meet her.

Meeting the man in the red suit this year was super successful. Not an ounce of shyness or fear was expressed! Maya asked Santa for a scarf and Brianna asked for a flashlight.

Lo and behold, some Arendelle inhabitants were on vacation in Fort Collins! It was so adorable seeing the girls get genuinely starstruck. They were a bit nervous to approach them for the photo.

We did a few toddler crafts throughout the month. Hobby Lobby has some great kits!

We have started a tradition of hosting a pie/dessert night around Christmastime. This is our second year doing it (although we skipped last year because we were in the midst of moving). I made a Rustic Peach Blackberry Pie. All of the desserts that were brought were delicious! We had 4 families come and it was a great time for the kids to play and the adults get to know each other better.

On Christmas Eve, Holly and my mom came over to help make gingerbread cookies for Santa.

Brianna was suuuuuuper hangry and didn't participate.

After lunch (and Brianna turned back into her angel self), Daddy took the girls outside to try out our new sled. They thought it was so fun, even though the hill was incredibly lame.

After the cookies had time to cool (and Brianna was put down for her nap), we got to frosting and decorating!

That evening we had kaesespaetzle for dinner, as is our Christmas Eve tradition, and went to look at Christmas lights. After we got home and put the girls to bed, I prepped a french toast casserole to have for breakfast the next morning, and Ryan became Santa Claus.

Christmas morning was so much fun. We hadn't put any gifts under the tree throughout the month, for fear of them getting torn open before we wanted them to. I was downstairs putting the casserole in the oven, and I hear Maya wake up around 7:15. She did an adorable gasp, ran into Ryan's and my room and exclaimed that Santa had come! She wanted to come right down, but we reminded her that Brianna should wake up too. She ran back into their room and said, "Brianna! Santa came! There are presents!!!" Brianna quickly woke up and we all trekked downstairs together.

Later on Christmas Day, we went over to Brady and Erin's home for Christmas dinner and gift exchange with Berne and Cindy. The cousins like to put on the nativity play for us.

Berne and Cindy were with us for the week after Christmas. We saw movies, went out to eat, and spent an entire day at the Fort Collins LDS Temple.

On December 30th, we joined my family in Colorado Springs at Brendon and Crystal's home for a Christmas celebration there. Maya and Brianna love getting to have a sleepover with Brielle and Aislynn! They play so nicely together. 

Brianna loves her little cousin Eviana.

We very much enjoyed the holiday season. I hope everybody had a very Merry Christmas!