Emma loved the pretty necklaces that were in her stocking! She also loved being Grandma's little sidekick whenever she could!
Stocking stuffers!! Our first of three pounds of Starbuck's that we smuggled back into Brazil!!
EJae, two years and seven months old on Christmas Day!
Got a minute?? Get a game of Rook goin'!
Kevin with brothers Tim and Jon
Grandma had saved the Berenstain Bears characters from many years ago. Emma loves listening to those stories while holding her new little friends!
Christmas Day felt a little different this year. It was the day before Tim and Bethany's wedding and there was a lot to do! We went to the church to decorate after lunch and were there until after supper! I had a great time taking pictures and watching as the decorations came together just the way Bethany had planned! She has an incredible sense of creativity and I enjoyed being a part of the preparations!
After all the decorating was finished, we went back home and opened our stockings, so lovingly prepared by Grandm, er, I mean, Santa! I can't remember ever doing stockings when I was little, so it's been a really fun new tradition for me over the last nine years. Yep, I even got a stocking the year we were dating and the year we were engaged:) Since we've been together, our tradition has been to spend Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Kevin's family. It's worked out nicely and I'm just really grateful for our families!
Christmas Day was different, but I wanted Emma to hear the story of Jesus' birth. We read it several times before we even left Brazil and we talked about how the wise men gave Jesus gifts when he was born. Emma loves to talk about Baby Jesus now and I think it's pretty cute to hear her talk about the gifts he received. . . shiny gold, faraintinsints and spicy murr.
