Christmas 2019

We went to UBC, our church, for Christmas Eve service again.  It's singing, an unrehearsed children's nativity and candles (aka: the yearly experiment to see if any child will let someone on fire).  It's the best.

I always insist on taking a family selfie before we leave for Christmas Eve church...

and then a friend snaps a pic as we walk in and it turns out as one of the best family pics all year!  This has happed two years in a row now...I think it needs to be tradition!

The kids pick costumes when they arrive and process to the stage as we sing and read the Christmas story.  Ruby and Ada were both angels this year.

my angels and their sweet friend Mary (aka: LK)

We decided to go out for dinner after church and it was nice.  It's hard to plan and cook a special dinner knowing we are leaving the next day and don't want to deal with dishes or leftovers.  The girls donned their Christmas nightgowns, put out cookies for Santa (neither are believers but apparently this is tradition) and we scooted them off to bed.

There were some fun surprises to wake up to Christmas morning!

I've been wanting to do this for a couple years now and it finally worked out

Ada's presents weren't as cooperative so I had to get creative!

I'm not sure exactly how early they were up but they woke us up at 6:45 raring to go.  We opened presents and everyone was happy!  Ruby got rollerblades and a big Harry Potter lego castle from us.  Ada got the Barbie Dream House and a new Barbie.  We also gave them both calendars and Google Minis for their rooms.  The Googles were the biggest surprise!  So many generous gifts also came from loved ones too.

 ready to roll

Livin' the dream!  Yes, the Barbie Dream House is ridiculously huge.

trying out those new blades bright and early

We did cinnamon rolls for breakfast, played with our new things, and then finished packing up for our trip up north.  We left midday for the airport looking forward to seeing snow and family!

Christmas Day Travelers- it's a tradition!