Christmas 2011

Pictures from Christmas 2011 are a little sparse because our camera (that we got at the end of 2005) started acting funny. The lens started being fickle about when it would come out (lots of turning the camera off and on) and then on Christmas morning it stopped working altogether.

We were really excited to have Christmas just with our own little family this year.  Since we have usually traveled for the holidays, our Christmas decorations have been pretty minimal .  This year we got a nativity set!  We filled the piano with cards from friends and family.  Since we only have 4 stocking hangers, Josh's stocking wasn't hung (but he didn't mind).

We also got a small fake tree.  It was the perfect size for the kids to decorate.  

There was a lot of rockin' around the Christmas tree when I was trying to take a picture.

  

We made some really yummy, soft gingerbread cookies to share.  The kids had fun making each one unique.

We caroled to some friends and neighbors.  Josh made his one and only appearance in his Santa-inspired snowsuit.  The other kids insisted on scarves.

We had a "Bethlehem Dinner" this year and decided to invite the missionaries to join us.  We ate on the floor in the living room by candle light.  The flash in the photo makes it look bright, but it was really dark. We had Jewish foods and foods that people may have eaten in Christ's day (or more common substitutes).  We had pita bread, unleavened bread, crackers, goat cheese, figs, dates, grapes, dried meat, olives, grape juice, and middle-eastern beef stew.

When the missionaries came, we gave them their costumes to wear.  They wore crowns and fancy capes to be wise men.  The rest of us wore costumes as well.  After dinner we acted out the nativity.  I got some cute video of it.

Here is our tree all decorated.  I really liked how it turned out.  It was the perfect size for our small house (and small children).  And at $4.95 at Goodwill, we couldn't beat the price!

On Christmas Eve, the kids got matching thermals (boring, but practical and I already had them on hand) which they thought were great.  We had a special present for each of them to open.

They each got their own personal, hardback copy of The Book of Mormon with their name on the front.  They were thrilled.  The enjoyed looking at the pictures and taking turns being missionaries to teach us.

We took a few photos of the kids before bed, the last pictures our camera would take.

Little did I know that one of those presents under the tree was a new camera for our family.  Hooray!