Everything Christmas

One blog post to show everything Christmas - from decorating to playing in the snow to cookies for Santa to the aftermath of presents.  First is our annual Star Wars tree and village - always a big hit for kids and adults!

 

Olivia and Ethan always enjoy the yearly Illini Country Club Breakfast with Santa - food, crafts, puppet show, Santa, and fun!

Decorating the "traditional" Christmas tree.

The gingerbread house - both kids did a great job this year spending a lot of time thinking about how to decorate the house and less time eating the decorations!

First snow of the season!  Springfield received about 6 inches of snow, and it was absolute perfect snow for snowballs and snowmen.  

The biggest "hill" in the neighborhood for the kids to sled down (dirt from a construction site) - and Ethan took in a pretty big face full of snow on this ride.

Kate, Olivia, and Grammy ready for our yearly Nutcracker tradition!

Ethan and Olivia rolling out and decorating sugar cookies.  Our cookie decorating goes from the traditional (a snowman) to the unique (such as a sheep, a bunny, a palm tree, or Ethan decorating a cookie with tortilla chips and a Milky Way).

Our "official" Christmas pictures.

Ethan was a wise man in the St. John's Lutheran Church's Christmas program.  

Olivia was an angel in the Christmas program with a small speaking role.

Leaving cookies, milk, and letters for Santa and a carrot and banana for Rudolph!  

Christmas morning - the kids posing with their presents.

And the aftermath of opening presents.  Nope, our kids are not spoiled at all.

Playing with favorite toys - Zoomer and Furby Boom.

 

The day after Christmas gave us more Christmas!  Here is Ethan entertaining his cousin Lula with Grandpa Brett's trombone. 



A tradition for the Stamps' family Christmas - lunch at Dewey's to watch the pizzas being made.

Nope, not spoiled at all.

Toys absolutely everywhere and of course the boxes are the main attraction!

And to keep Christmas going a bit longer, we attended the Missouri Botanical Garden's Garden Glow.  It was beautiful to see and the kids really enjoyed all of the lights and events.