Wating for Celebrations

December:

Here was our first snow of the season--that is, if you can say that.  This was before winter had officially begun.  In fact, we had been having such frigid temperatures for weeks on end.  

It was fun to watch the kids "sledding."  Our backyard slopes downward ever so slightly, and Jake was pushing the boys on the sled.  The snow had iced over a bit, and they would slide just short of the rocks at the edge of our yard.  

Christmas is awfully fun now with the kids getting older. We celebrated our family Christmas quite early this year, Josiah was ever looking forward to the day we would celebrate!  We started our celebration with the Christmas story.  I finally purchased a manger scene this year, so Josiah had fun acting it out with the figures. Eli, of course, was only concerned with baby Jesus.  The boys opened their presents.  We kept gifts simple: one toy, one useful item, and one educational gift.  The boys played, and then we ate a little brunch together.
     

A week or so later, these pictures were taken before we celebrated with Jake's family.  I had just finished putting away some of the gift wrapping supplies, only to find Eli perched on top of the presents.  My wrapping job sure looked crummy, but at least I got the pleasure of seeing this cute sight!  ;-)