Christmas Memories

My husband spent three years in Germany as a young child and he has fond memories of building a gingerbread house one year. A couple years ago I came home with a gingerbread kit and he thought that was cheating, so this year he decided he was going to make a gingerbread house completely from scratch. I have to be honest - I laughed (out loud) when he made this declaration. Heath can cook chili, grilled cheese, several breakfast foods, and he can grill some great meat, but baking is not something he has experience with. However, his first try at making a gingerbread house went great and the kids think their dad is super cool! 

The children also helped me dip pretzels and they loved decorating sugar cookies. 

My husband's mother and step-father came and visited us during Christmas. This was very special to us because we live nearly 1,000 miles away from our families and we are usually the ones sitting on Facebook waiting for the grandparents, aunts, and uncles to post pictures so we can read all about the family gatherings we were unable to attend.  Grandpa James spent a couple mornings in the kitchen and we enjoyed his cooking very much.

My husband usually reads from the Bible before we open presents on Christmas morning. This year he decided to change things up a bit, so he asked our son to read from the gospel of Luke. 

These are just a few highlights from our Christmas memories this year. We also enjoyed snow on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. My husband and children LOVE playing in the snow. I enjoy sitting inside with a warm drink, watching them play, and then preparing hot chocolate for them when they're ready to come inside.