Christmas and New Years!

I can't believe that I am so behind in blogging that I am doing christmas and new years in february. Pitiful really. . . But here it is nonetheless. . .

Christmas is always really magical to me because of the things I get to think about during the holidays. . . And I love the focus of family and christ and giving. . .

( look at this picture :) I just realized ty put in his thumbs down! little stinker! ) Oh well, it kind of describes the way I feel about blogging so late so I guess it is perfect! lol

Anyways, The Siebenhaar family tradition is to spend christmas eve together and do a number of things.

That is one thing I love so much about my german heritage is that it is heavily laid with traditions. . .

First off we have dinner! German food of course! This is the "kids" table!

Then we have the festivities! We have a talent program where each grandkid has to either share a christmas related talent, or a story, or a poem, etc.

Then we all sing christmas songs together! Including a couple in german only!

After songs, then the men read the story of christmas out of the bible and we hear about the events surrounding Jesus's birth.

Then comes the first round of gifts! From grandma and grandpa to the grandkids!

After round one comes appetizers and german desserts! You have to pick wisely though because there is no way one could eat it all!

And we never do. We make extra so we can take home the goodies and eat them for the next few weeks!

After snacks and treats we exchange gifts among each other. This part is really fun because it is nice to see each other unwrap gifts we picked out!

I also love all the german nutcrackers and decorations! It really makes it feel like christmas to me!

Then we all go home and wait for santa!

We slept at my moms this year Christmas eve, and woke up to an amazing breakfast prepared by my incredible mom! She does this every year, and I look forward to it every year too!

And I love the way she decorates her house too! It is so beautiful and nostalgic! It looks like it could be out of a magazine!

Lovely. . .

Something we like to do too is wrap presents for the dogs! They know how to unwrap them and everything and it is hilarious!

Brian got a new snowboard and gear which he desperately needed! So he was pretty happy about that!

All in all, christmas was a dream!

We then were lucky to spend New Years with the Bunkers and it was probably my most fun New Years ever!

We played millions of games, had treats, and were in the company of our most favorite people!

We made italian cream sodas and it was the first time I had them and I fell in love!

If you have never made them for a party, ask me how, and it will be a huge hit, I promise!!!

This is Karen, Brians mom. I love her so much!

And she is amazing and always puts together so many fun things for us to do! Spending new years with her and the others was awesome! I love being with her and at her house!!!

I hope all of your holidays were awesome. They probably were, and I probably already heard about them months ago :)

Cheers!

Lindsay