Merry Christmas

Another year, another non-white Christmas.  It would be so fun to have snow at Christmas like we did in Germany but I guess living in Oregon we get the gray/rainy Christmas instead.  It's still my favorite time of year.  I love all the get togethers with neighbors and church friends.  I love that Hyrum is home with us.  I love that my boys are all still excited about Christmas morning.  I love getting out my special Christmas plates and mugs for our breakfast tradition.  I love setting up all my nativities and having them around for a month or so to look at and remind me what Christmas is all about.

Getting our Christmas tree.  I like to wait until the weekend before Christmas to get the tree.  I feel like if it's up for 4 weeks before Christmas it looses some of it's magic.  We are almost always the only ones out cutting a tree the Saturday before Christmas:)

I like to call this photo: Emerson on stump

Hyrum let all the boys have a turn with the saw.  They all said Daddy makes it look so easy but it's actually pretty tough to cut down a tree!

Hauling our tree back up to the car.

Time to decorate!

The tree on Christmas Eve.  Hyrum and I wait for the boys to go to bed before we bring out any of the gifts and put them under the tree.  Again, I feel like Christmas morning is so much more magical if they haven't seen big piles of gifts around the tree for weeks.

This year we were able to sneak out for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve while the boys were asleep.  We went to a little Catholic service in Verboort, OR.  I wished they would have had more congregational singing.  We'll have to try another church next year:)

The traditional Christmas morning breakfast.  Served on fancy plates with cocoa in fancy mugs.

After breakfast it's time to open presents.

Emerson hiding in the wrapping paper after the whirlwind of present opening.  What a mess!

And that was Christmas at our house 2015.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!