Christmas

The most wonderful time of the year came and went!

So magical with kids.

This year's highlight = the Christmas lights. Me and the boys walked around the neighborhood looking at lights probably a dozen times and found the best street. Troy LOVED our lights each night and he called them "Pretty pretty!" 

The rest of Christmas wasn't quite understood yet...

Including Santa. Didn't understand him at all this year.

& his elves

We had a simple Christmas, just us four. It was sweet!

For the record, I did have Christmas pajamas for Troy to wear, but Bobby forgot to change him into them...what do you do?

This year was truck themed, kind of on accident. We didn't know what an obsession it would be later!

Troy did good at opening presents.

So much to think about

Rocky just loved everyone being together in the living room and giving him attention.

The aftermath.

It felt good and cold in December, even snowed 3x (stuck once) but we are living in Texas after all -

(Christmas morning)

We started the best tradition this year, inspired by a friend in Colorado.
We called it the 25 days of Christmas, and we did a small service project each day from Dec 1 - 25. Since Bobby was not much help, and the boys are still little, it was basically just me doing it alone, so I kept it really simple. But it was one of the best things I have ever done and I want to keep it a tradition for my family my whole life.
Some of my favorites included:
Waking up with Bobby and making him breakfast
Cleaning up trash in the park (I looked homeless, people were staring, but it was good for me to be stretched)
Babysitting
Leaving a Christmas card with a small note about Christmas on a strangers car
Posting something inspirational on FB
Bringing a treat for the bishop on Sunday
Giving money to a begger
Complimenting someone
30 minutes of eye contact/no distractions from Rocky
Taking Troy to the park
Calling a friend
Emailing my grandparents on a mission
Thank you goodies to the nursery workers
Delivering treats to the neighbors
A day without social media or projects for my kids

I liked having one day with one family member in mind to serve. I can't wait to do it again next year! Out of all the Christmas festivities, I think this is what I 'll remember most this year.