Christmas in June

That's right, kids, Christmas in June.

Or, really, remembering in June that we haven't blogged about our wonderful Season due to less-than-wonderful-happenings in January. More on that in a future post, I'm sure.

Sooo, back in December we got a lovely, formerly-alive Christmas tree. It smelled DIVINE and the kids really enjoyed decorating it. As per their request, we went with colorful lights.

Jack had crazy hair day at school. I think. Or, he got really bored and decided a fauxhawk was a good way to combat that boredom...

Henry loves a good smoothie! Look at that happy boy! I could just eat him up (especially since i know he's berry-flavored now...and because it might stop those tantrums...)

Ummm, not really a festive picture, but it was a breakfast-for-dinner in December. Which resulted in the aforementioned smoothied-Henry. Fierce.

For our first Nativity re-enactment, Jack decided to be the shepherd (as in, he decided at the last minute that he WOULD NOT be Joseph. That caused us to re-shuffle all the other rolls...)

Shockingly, Sheridan was picked to play Mary. I know, I know, I was the pregnant one...Tyler was the understudy for Joseph, so with Jack's switch-a-roo to shepherd, Tyler got to shine in his role of SuperDad.

Henry was the sleepy Wise man. Carrying a toy fox. On a sweet wooden rocking horse. Really, he was thrilled with his roll. So thrillllllzzzzzzzzzz....

There was snow here in December (and in November, January, February, March, April, and May...none so far in June...). It was very gorgeous and deep in December. It was annoying in March, April, and May.

Before Christmas, Tyler and his dad (who was out from NJ) got to go to the U of U Bowl game in Vegas. They had a nice, safe, fun time. It's not often Tyler gets the chance to have one on one time with his dad and he really enjoyed it.
Then, we had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As a fun first, we got to have Tyler's mom and dad with us on Christmas Eve! That was a first, and we had a blast. Grammy and Pop are always fun!

On Christmas Eve, we once again acted out the Nativity. This time Henry was a rockin' shepherd (again, on the awesome wooden rocking horse) and he actually let us dress him up.

Here is Sheridan as...wait for it...an expectant Mary. I can't remember if she had YellowBear or a doll in there...

Jack agreed to lend his thespianatic skills to the roll of Joseph. He was so cute as he pulled Sheridan from "inn" to "inn", looking for refuge! Grammy played, of course, the angel! (It makes sense, as she is often the bringer of news in the family...and she is so good!).

The shepherd found the baby asleep in the pack-n-play. I don't have a picture of Tyler-as-Wise-Man, but you can rest assured that he knocked that roll out of the park.

We celebrated with hymns of Christ throughout. Singing Christmas Carols is one of my favorite holiday traditions, and it feels so special and sacred to do so on Christmas eve.

Oh, and the kids got new PJ's. Then they got sent to bed. Tyler and I were up, as usual on Christmas Eve, far too late. But everything came together in the end:).

Christmas morning dawned bright and not-too-early. Santa DID come and visit the kids. I guess they were good after all! He brought Sheridan and Henry this sweet play house
and he brought Jack this fabulous easel. Which he loves and has gotten more continuous use out of than almost any gift he's ever been given (other than, perhaps, books).Jack got a bunch Star Wars paraphenalia (surprise!), books, and legos. Henry got a SWEET wooden ramp that Tyler built. He sent all of his cars, movies, books, and gloves down it. They had to go down the ramp when they were opened. It was hilarious. I mostly lounged around and watched them open stuff. I was 8 months pregnant. I was just happy that they were happy! (although I was also happy that I got a toaster oven and a bunch of other handy kitchen gear).
Sheridan got a lovely little princess baby. And a bunch of play food, books, dolls, and toys. She was happy (this was a very rare calm moment!). We got to eat a yummy breakfast with Grammy and Pop, and then my brother and his family joined us later in the afternoon. We had a lovely dinner with Tyler's sister and her family.

Surrounded by family and friends was the best way to celebrate the season of Christ's birth!