Chats include . . .
How do we do Advent?
Should we do Santa?
When do we hang decorations?
How many presents?
What kinds of presents?
Etc., etc.
While we still haven't made up our minds about everything, we've had some great discussions and are looking forward to Christmases yet to come, to put all our new family traditions to the test.
But this year, since John Paul is still super young and basically just wants to play with all the boxes and wrapping paper, we kept things simple. We traveled to Rhode Island to celebrate Christmas with my family this year, and it was wonderful.
We spent Christmas Eve introducing John Paul to the ocean.
His Auntie M came along for the adventure too!
And then we proceeded to party the night away with all my aunts and uncles and cousins, the yearly tradition. No pictures, since we were all wrapped up in the fun of it.
On Christmas morning, my mom snapped pics of us on the top of the stairs before being allowed to walk down and see the tree.
The tree in all her glory! This was the first year my parents got a fake tree! *SHOCKED FACE!*
John Paul loved opening gifts. Playing with boxes is his favorite!
Christmas morning Mass was lovely!
Followed by a day of relaxation, lots of eating, and playing board games with the family.
'Twas a perfect Christmas day.
We flew home the next morning, and John Paul got to open his one gift from us.
A Fisher Price little people Nativity. :)
And we're gonna keep on celebrating until the Epiphany arrives. We'll be blasting all the Christmas music (which we tried to avoid all through Advent!), eating more yummies, admiring Christmas decorations, and keeping the Christ Child alive in our hearts for a full 12 days. Oh, won't you join us? :)
Merry Christmas, friends!
Beloved:
When the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
He saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
Titus 3: 4-7
Looks like you all had a very merry Christmas that was full of blessings. Love the pics (as always). Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIt sure was! I hope yours was too! Merry Christmas!
DeleteLooks like a very happy christmas!
ReplyDeleteIt sure was! Merry Christmas you THREE!
DeleteLove the photos! We have spent a lot of time this week talking about those things, too. Next year Maria will understand a lot so we need to make a few decisions by then (pretty sure we won't do Santa but I don't know how to handle that with my family). We also had a really crazy advent- too much to do crammed into the first few weeks, and then the last week at my family's house... Where they buy into the secular notion that Christmas starts as soon as thanksgiving is over and ends within a few days of the 25th :-/
ReplyDeleteMaria loved her little people nativity this Advent- I bet John Paul will have lots of fun with his ;-) Merry Christmas!
They're fun conversations, aren't they? Forming family traditions . . . lots of great things to talk about. :) I think we're going to skip out on Santa too. Bummer that your family is not/will not be on board. Hopefully they'll come around to it. I'm not sure about my family yet. I'm thinking they'll be respectful, but possibly still think we're crazy. :P Yay for kid-friendly Nativity sets. :)
DeleteMerry Christmas!!
What great photos! Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteMerry 4th day of Christmas!
Happy to share! I love that you're posting for all 12 days of Christmas. It's fun to follow along. :) Merry Christmas!!
DeleteSo cute!!! There is nothing better than baby's first Christmas, ammiright?! Love the pics and those chubby cheeks (his, of course)!!!
ReplyDeleteSO RIGHT!! Loved all your photos too! :) And yeah, his cheeks are pretty ridiculous, in the best way possible!
DeleteIt looks like a very Merry Christmas indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lucky!
DeleteLooks awesome!
ReplyDeleteSure was! :)
DeleteMerry Christmas to you! We flew from IN to RI to be with my family for Christmas as well. We have 6 month old twins who got their first taste of the Ocean State as well! Our 3-yr old thinks that my parents' house is "Rhode Island." When she was getting tired at relatives' house in Cumberland on Christmas Eve, she just kept saying, "I want to go to Rhode Island!"
ReplyDeleteHaha! This is so stinkin' cute! How was flying with 6mo twins??
DeleteMerry Christmas! We wanted to do Santa, but there's a strong chance that we won't have that option, depending on the age(s) of our child(ren). Honestly its going to be a challenge integrating not just our traditions but trying to figure out which and how to integrate some Polish traditions as well.
ReplyDeleteVery true! Definitely some added challenges for you guys. I hope you love it all the same!
DeleteWhat a fun holiday for your little family! If I could get away with it, I would totally not do Santa either. We'll see how that goes with our own little one next year. :)
ReplyDeleteInterested to know why you don't think you could get away with it . . .
DeleteHey, your Christmas photo session is way too cute. I am totally in love with these pictures. Thanks a lot for this share. It was my niece’s first Christmas too and we had just amazing time on this auspicious day. We reserved one of best party venues Chicago for this fun family Xmas bash.
ReplyDelete