26 December 2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010 - , 14 comments

{Christmas 2010}

WOW!  I'm still in shock that Christmas is over and we are slowly cleaning up the mehem and being lazy as we let the last 72 hours of food settle.  It has been an incredible holiday for us!  Filled with so many blessings and the most amazing memories made!  

We began our Christmas celebrations by baking another round of Christmas cookies (for Santa this time) on Thursday afternoon and once again the fun was over the top!  It was wonderful having Big J help with the fun and experience the joy with his little cricket.  With our cookies prepped for Santa we then cleaned up and headed off to church for the candlelight service.  It was such an emotional experience for me as I was thinking about all the blessings from the year and just remembering where our daughter was last year at this time.   This year I was holding her in my arms singing Silent Night with big ole tears rolling down my face.  

The next day we got all dressed up (well mostly the cricket) for our families Christmas Eve celebration.  Each year our family does a big charity donation instead of exchanging gifts and this year the Santa Cruz SPCA was the charity chosen from the hat!  Of course the newest member of the family got to draw the name.  :)  She was so very serious!
For all of our various Christmas activities I had outfits that I'd saved over the years for my girl to wear for her first Christmas with us.  This outfit was extra special as it was mine on my second Christmas and it was a dream come true to see my daughter wearing these special threads.
After the Christmas eve festivities we quickly went home and prepared for the big guy by putting out our cookies, some milk and an apple for the reindeer.  Little miss was very serious about this ordeal and was pretty astounded the next morning when they were gone and all that was left was crumbs, a half eaten apple and an empty glass...you can see that in the video below.  :)  After a sleepless night our Christmas day started around 6am as we headed downstairs to get the day started and oh boy it was a day!  The stockings were over the top from Santa!!  There was nothing but JOY, JOY, JOY!  And the wow's were oh so sweet sounding!
Our little cricket was so into all the gifts and opening them up.  She was so excited and very serious about her play kitchen and her first bike and of course hasn't stopped playing with them since.   We've had many a tea already!  

Then it was time for Big J to open his gift...I was SO excited!!!
And as you can see...So was he!  I can not wait to see what magic comes out of his camera!  I'm trying to convince him to start a photography blog so he can share, learn and see other photographers works.  Oh and yes, he did get a lens with that camera body....we'd wrapped everything in separate boxes to throw him off and of course I'm so sleep deprived that I'd forgotten what box to start with...oh well the end result was still perfect!
The morning soon came to an end and Big J headed to his dads for more celebrating.  After a quick nap we played the afternoon away before the cricket, her daddy and I headed out for a wonderful Christmas dinner with my family although we were a bit tired!  Dinner was fabulous and the perfect way to end a beautiful first Christmas together!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day for me, one I'd been dreaming about for so, so long.  Throughout the day I was thinking of many friends who were also experiencing the same newfound joy and keeping them in my constant prayers yesterday.  I hope that everyone had an equally magical day!  Today has been a great lazy day with lots of treats to eat (the sugar high is killing me!) and more tea time.  We are going to kick it back into high gear again in a few hours as we wait for our Holly to arrive and Big J to return from his dads, then it's more celebrating!!  
Happy the day after!!

14 comments:

Happy Holidays my friend. And, I want that kitchen!

Lea
xo

OMW..
I am sooo happy for you guys..
I want to be your child...LOL.. I need a lens also..LOL..
Ok.. Jennifer had me crying.. this has to be the most amazing Christmas...
Love her pj's that match the baby..
Tooo cute..
love you my friend..

Oh goodness! It looks like you had a Very Merry Christmas!

I so glad you had such a beautiful Christmas together.

Oh, I am so very happy for y'all! Happy Christmas to ALL of you. And I love that your extended family does a charity donation every year - I'm gonna campaign hard for that for our family next year.

I love this post! I know how long you waited for that dream to come true. Very happy for you. :)

Dreams do come true!!
Beautiful pictures, wishing you a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year full of many blessings.

Looks like you had a great time too - this Christmas will be hard to top! I love how you had all the outfits ready to go too- I figure she'll have to wear one a day until New Year's! So excited for you all and can't wait to see what exciting things 2011 bring for you all!

Oh what a wonderful, beautiful, amazing day!! Merry, merry Christmas dear friend! Your very first with Cricket in your arms. The first of forever!

Love you!

What a great Christmas! I can't wait to watch the videos. That dress that belonged to you was sooo precious!

So, so so so beautiful Kayce. every detail but especially SIlent Night tears!! LOVE to you all!!
Sharon

Beautiful!!!!!!! The pictures are just awesome! :)
By the way, Z got the SAME kitchen! So funny. Looks like your Christmas was amazing!

what awesome pic's!

Cricket's little dresses are precious! I love the nostalgia of her wearing your dress. :) The cookies look super yummy to! :) All in all looks like a great Christmas! So happy for you all!!