Christmas Eve Nativity and Puzzle

2018's Nativity was fun as always with the perfect mix of being reverent and fun.  When Grandma is a shepherd with a cat as her sheep that won't follow her and Grandpa is a wise guy that keeps talking about the cute shepherd, you know it's a good time.  Tony always calls dibs on being the star and I get to be the narrator, song announcer.  Even though we didn't sing on tune, it was still wonderful talking about the importance of the Christ's birth.

And then after the kids were asleep, it was puzzle time.

Finishing up our Christmas Advent

With a few late nights out and about, we had a few books to read to finish up our Christmas calendar.  THe last book we read was, "The Night Before Christmas".

Christmas Tomten

A friend stopped by with this little tomten and a card.  It was such a great surprise!  Ever since my parents went on a mission to Sweden, I have loved learning more about our Swedish ancestry.  This little Tomten is cute and is a part of Swedish culture.  

Baking with Grandma

When everyone was better, we got some baking done.  First the kids and Grandma made Great Great Grandma Irma's caramels and then Grandma taught them how to make her teddy bear bread.

Christmas Express

Everybody got a ticket and climbed aboard our Christmas Express to look at Christmas lights and do a Christmas light scavenger hunt.  Talk about an easy Christmas activity with kids who are under the weather.  We loved listening to and singing Christmas carols.  Ry and Ev conked out halfway through.

Grinch Night

Grinch Night was a two-parter because of our plague-infested house.  Instead of all of us going to see the new Grinch, Grandma, Max, Jase and I went to see it (it's really hard to get a good picture when your flash is so bright in the dim room.  Everybody else watched the Ron Howard version at home.  Then the next night we had our Grinch feast.

Painting with Grandma and a Visit with Danielle

Grandma and Grandpa came to town and we carried on the tradition of paiting a Christmas scene on our windows just like Grandma used to do when dad was younger.  Jase and Max were a lot of help and Ry and Ev helped when they felt better.

A close up of Max's trumpet playing angel complete with music stand.

Danielle surprised us by stopping by!