Memories of Mom at Christmas

This was always my mom's favorite time of year. She loved decorating the entire house, making everything look nice and she loved to take advantage of EVERY event of the season. One tradition she started, that we've continued, is the Boat Parade. We all meet at 15th Street in Balboa and sit on the sand with our hot cocoa & watch the decked out boats pass through the harbor. She used to put together The Twelve Days of Christmas with a special treat for each day. We helped her deliver to friends and neighbors every night of the twelve days of Christmas by dropping off the gift then ding dong ditching. I LOVED to help with this when I was younger...not so much, the older I got:). One thing we joke about now and tell stories of most is how every year Christmas morning, we were up at the crack of dawn anxious to see what Santa brought, (of course mom & dad were just getting to bed...if they went to bed AT ALL). The rule was, no one was allowed in the living room before mom or dad came to get us. So we would patiently wait...the younger ones begging the older ones to wake up and go get mom & dad and FINALLY one of them would come to get us, usually Mom. She'd say, "Merry Christmas! And we would all say "Merry Christmas!" and then she would say, "Now everyone go comb your hair and brush your teeth first before you come down and see what Santa brought!" By the time they were actually ready for us to go in the living room, half of the kids were crying, and then it took what seemed like an hour to us, to get a picture together where all 12 of us were smiling or at least appeared to be having fun. (I'll have to find one of those pictures to share:)) As frustrated as we all would get, it was worth it. Everything was always perfect! All of the gifts were carefully placed, covering every square inch of the room, a huge pot of hot chocolate was on the stove, and of course a Christmas record, yes, record would be playing.
Some of the best memories!!!
She is incredibly missed, and I think of her often. I am so grateful for her. For the example she set for all of us, for everything she taught me, and for her courage and strength. I hope to continue her traditions with my own family and create the same kind of memories I have and will always cherish.
Merry Christmas Mom!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning was so fun this year! Last year Caleb was just getting to the age where he started to understand how everything works, but this year he has been sooo excited for Santa to come. He had a whole list of things he would recite to us (in exactly the same words every time) that he wanted Santa to bring for him. We tried a few times explaining to Caleb the true meaning of Christmas to him, but when we would ask him why we celebrate, he always responded with "for presents"...maybe next year:)
We first opened gifts at home, just the four of us, then about 9 a.m. we went to my dad's house (Santa knew we'd be at grandpa's house too) and Dave and I made breakfast for everyone while they began opening gifts. All of us live within 20 minutes of each other now, so after we have Christmas with our own kids at home, we head over to dad's house to open more presents, do our gift exchanging and cook Christmas dinner together. Every year we say that next year we're not going to have a place big enough to hold everyone. The rate our family is growing now, it might be the truth! Here are some pictures of our Christmas.

Joy School Christmas Party

Caleb's Joy School Christmas party was at our house where we had dinner, then the kids did a little program for us by acting out the story of Jesus' birth (Caleb was a Shepard and a Wiseman)and they sang a few Christmas songs. They all looked so cute in their costumes and all of the parents enjoyed visiting with one another.

Sinter Klaas

This year we participated in a Dutch tradition that my sister-in-law does with her family for Christmas...

On St. Nicholas Eve, (5th December) children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also believe that if they leave some sugar cubes and carrots in their shoes for Sinter Klaas's horse, they will be left some sweets. Children are told that Black Peter keeps a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a book and that good children will get presents from Sinter Klaas, but bad children will get chased by Black Peter with a stick!! Dutch tradition says that he lives in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in Holland, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him. Every town in Holland has a few Sinter Klaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinter Klaas who help give the presents out.

We had the whole family over for dinner, we sang Christmas carols and told the kids about Sinter Klaas then they each took their shoes outside placed a carrot and a sugar cube in them (for his white horse) and we watched Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer while we waiting for Sinter Klaas to come. Then each of them took turns going out to see what he left for them in their shoes. It was a lot of fun!