My Lovey

She is the best...

Christmas 2011

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  This year was our first year being at home Christmas morning, and it was so wonderful to experience this with our kids.  Of course, there are always things that I wish would have been a bit different -I was running around a bit more than I typically like, I was tired, and I forgot to get us breakfast for Christmas morning (mental note...plan better next time)- but overall, this was a good Christmas.  This was the first year that Judah really got the whole idea of opening presents.  Once he opened one gift, he then assumed that it was his job to open all gifts (makes sense, right?), so we had to frequently remind him that not all gifts were his.  He did a great job of handing presents to the people they belonged to, and we did let him "help" open Eden's gifts, which he enjoyed.  Judah's favorite gifts this year have been (so far) a Larry the Cucumber figurine (that I got at a thrift store), a shopping cart (another thrift store find), and Eden's toys. :)  He has been walking around with her tea set and asking if anyone wants coffee.   

But, we know that Christmas is not about toys, so we have been trying to reinforce that Christmas is about Jesus.  We got a cake this year and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, read books that talk about Jesus, and we tried to teach Judah I John 4:14b "The Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."  We also have an advent calendar that we look at every day, but I am not sure he gets it just yet.

Here are some many pictures of our Christmas...you have been warned. :)

Oh, Christmas tree...

 Here are the kiddos all dressed up before church on Christmas Eve

 My dad leading us in some Christmas music on Christmas Eve

 Eden's first Christmas!

 This is her funny face

 The kids were a little distraced for a Christmas morning picture

Judah was showing Eden how to open a present

 Eating bows-one of her favorite activities of the morning

 Yummy forks

 Our best present this year :)

Eden's gift from big brother

 Hahaha!

 We spent the afternoon over at my parent's house...yay for Christmas!

This was pretty much how it went-Judah opening gifts and Eden eating bows

 The yummy roast

 Thank you, Jesus, for loving us enough to come to us as a baby and save us from our sins!

Christkindlmarket 2011

The Christkindlmarket is a German Christmas market in downtown Chicago.  It has good authentic German food (including chocolates) and all kinds of shops featuring European goodies-everything from unique hand made ornaments to clothing to jewelry to wooden handcrafts and more.  It is a touch of Europe in Chicago.  Eric and I have gone to the "Christmas market" (as we refer to it) every year since we were dating (with the exception of last year), and I guess it has become a Christmas tradition for us.  Eric has always enjoyed traveling, and I think this reminds him of his time over in Europe (and I have also been to Germany), so we brave the crowds and cold weather to get a little taste of Germany.  The first thing we do is get our favorite food which, for me, is German potato cakes with sour cream and, for Eric, is a sauerkraut bratwurst (I just have to insert a "yuck!" here).  We also like to get hot apple cider (we need it to keep warm!), and we try to get some warms nuts or some chocolates. 

This tradition became slightly more complicated after we had Judah, since braving the crowds is slightly more difficult with a stroller, and this year the double stroller proved even more challenging to navigate in the market.  However, we are proud to say that we did it, much to the chagrin and annoyance of those around us I am sure. :)  Anyway, Judah did enjoy seeing the sights this year since he is a bit older than he was the last time we took him.  We also had time to walk around Macy's afterwards, which he liked. 

For me...(these are so good)

 and for Eric

      

This was Judah at the market two years ago

Until next year, Christkindlemarket!