Mom did most of the work (Thanks Mom!), and I'm happy to have something that we can reuse next year, since we do it every year.
2. Christmas Activities - People in the ward emailed out ideas of things to do around the Bay Area at Christmas time. One person recommended a town of Bethlehem exhibit in Sunnyvale that is free, so we decided to try it. It was AMAZING!!! I very much regret that I didn't bring a camera. I will definitely try to make it again this year. A local church organizes the event and they construct a little town of Bethlehem. Roman soldiers mill about with spears and shout at people. There are stalls where children can make clay coins, brush wool, make bricks, and more. They also act out the nativity and they have REAL camels that the wise men ride on! It was very impressive. We all had a wonderful time, and helped make the Christmas story a little more real for the kids.
3. Breakfast with Santa - David took the girls to a Kidgits activity. They had a fun breakfast bag with a candy cane shaped bagel. They sat on the ground and drank hot chocolate while some elves performed. Then Santa came and had everyone ask him questions like, “How did you become Santa?” and “How do your reindeer fly?” Then they got to shake Santa’s hand.
4. Haven's Joy School Play – Haven has been doing a Joy School this year with a wonderful group of children and mothers. They did a little Christmas play in which Haven was the Shepherd. And they sang sweet little songs. It was darling.
5. Christmas Stockings – This was our first Christmas not visiting Utah or West Virginia, and so this was the first time I’ve actually needed to have our own stockings. I was surprised at how expensive it was to buy decent stockings, so we opted to make them, because it seemed simple enough. I was wrong. But luckily, Grandma figured everything out and sewed most of them (I helped a little). She got the girls’ stockings finished just in time for Christmas. I need to finish the rest. Wish me luck! I'll try to add a picture soon.
6. Christmas with the Crofts – We love our friends Matt and Mandy Croft and their children, and we were delighted when the invited us to act out the Christmas story with them. They came over to our house and the kids dressed up and acted out the Christmas story. Then we drank wassail and ate gingerbread men.
7. Grandpa Hinman comes to visit. Grandpa arrived the week before Christmas. We were all excited that he could join us for Christmas, and we love having him around.
8. Pictures from Julianne - Julianne will sometimes take pictures of my girls. I think she's a fabulous photographer despite the funny faces my girls make. Here are a few of Alyssa that she has sent me.
9. CHRISTMAS!!! – Hurray! The first Christmas at our apartment. It went nicely. We laid out stockings on the couch and stuffed them with goodies. Santa left art supplies for them on the couch. I also gave Mom and Dad some homemade Gravenstien applesauce with their stocking. We ate croissants and hot cocoa for breakfast (I’ve been itching to buy the frozen croissants at the Milk Pail for ages. They were delicious!) . I think we then went to church and opened gifts afterwards. We received so many wonderful gifts, that it would be somewhat impractical to list them all, but I will mention a few great surprises. Grandma and Grandpa Michaelis gave the girls some wonderful nightgowns made by Grandma Great. The also surprised us by giving us silverware! What a great surprise! Anyway, we received many wonderful and thoughtful gifts, so thank you to everyone!!! Merry Christmas!
10. More Grandparents - Grandma and Grandpa Michaelis arrive along with Grandma Great and Grandpa Great. They came out at the end of the month for Baby David’s blessing. We were so happy to have them join us, and so grateful that they braved the treacherous mountain passes to join us for New Year’s Eve and the blessing.
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