Advent and Christmas 2013

Another year over, a new one about to begin...

Here's wrapping up 2013! 

(Unless a certain baby decides to make his appearance before the end of the year;)

Celebrating some Feast Days during the Advent Season~ 

Waiting for the Christmas Season to Arrive

Visiting St. Nicholas at the Shrine

Celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Mexican Fiesta

Dressing up as St. Lucia and enjoying a braided sweet roll treat

Mary and Joseph Traveling to Bethlehem (aka the Nativity in Gianna and Ella's Room)

Our Jesse Tree

Decorating Our Christmas Tree

 The girls had fun putting all the ornaments on the tree this year. I helped put some ornaments higher up on the tree and Andy lent a helping hand to put the star on top, but other than that, they pretty much did the entire job all by themselves. 

Apartment living has forced us to put up an artificial tree yet another year. Although it is nice not having to worry about watering a real one or all the pine needles, I do miss the tradition of cutting one down and look forward to starting up that tradition again in the future:)

Christmas Eve

Tossing the the magical reindeer food Gianna got from her teacher.

We had a quiet Christmas Eve this year.  Andy worked, so the girls and I just stayed home.  Our only outing was to visit Andy at the station for a little bit.  We ended the night by watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas on TV.  Both girls actually fell asleep shortly into watching it, and it was nice to have them well rested for the coming days ahead.

Christmas Day

 We started out our Christmas morning by attending the 7am mass at our parish.  I must say, it was the most enjoyable and peaceful Christmas mass I've attended in a long time.  It may become my new favorite time to go!  

Here's why:

When we left for mass, it was still dark outside and when it was done, it was light.  I found significance in this when I thought about the great light Baby Jesus was to the world when He was born; it seemed fitting that after we celebrated His birth, the daylight was then upon us.

The mass was not crowded at all.  In fact we got there a few minutes before it began and got our choice of seating. (We were about one of only two families with little kids as well.)

And probably one of the most important reasons it may become my favorite mass time, I could actually pay attention to the mass and felt like I got something out of it! (It also helped that Ella slept through almost the entire mass and Gianna barely said a word).  My favorite part of the priest's homily was when he told us, on Christmas Day we are called, like the shepherds, to come and simply adore Him, to simply come and see.

Opening Presents from St. Nick/ Santa Claus

Gianna wanted a nutcracker from Santa and Ella wanted a butterfly.

They both got what they wanted.  Both girls received a wooden nutcracker doll and some Lalaloopsy Dolls, in which Ella's had some butterfly figures.  Andy and I also got them dresses and ballet slippers so they could play Clara from the Nutcracker Ballet (a story they are both fond of this year.)

Christmas Day at G&G Thompsons'

We had a lovely morning gathering at G&G Thompsons' complete with our annual egg-bake breakfast, with all the fixings, and a fun pajama themed gift exchange among the siblings.

 Extended Thompson Family Gathering

Christmas afternoon, we headed a short distance, down the street, to the Campbell Town Hall to meet up with the rest of the Thompson family for a little Christmas celebration.  In years past, we have always gone to my grandma's house, but since the family has grown so much over the years, it was decided that this year we needed a bigger, more wide open space for everyone to gather.  It was nice to do a little catching up and the kids had fun running around and playing games:)

December 26th~ Opening Up Family Presents

Gianna was so excited to give Andy and me her presents she made in school.  They were some of my favorites!

Gianna got Ella a Barbie with butterfly wings and little princess barbies.

Ella got Gianna a motorized bunny that hops around and makes bunny noises.

Since both girls seemed to be at the perfect age for a doll house, I got the crazy great idea to refinish my childhood doll house for them (about a month away from Christmas, I might add).  Andy agreed to take on the project as well and together, we spent a few late nights updating the wooden house. Although the final product was well worth it, it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be!  Andy's main task was to update and paint the outside of the house and mine was to update and refinish the inside.  There were a few moments of doubt in how the whole thing would turn out, but in the end we were both pleased with the final outcome and most importantly, the girls seemed to be as well:)

Before

During

After

December 26th~ Celebrating Christmas at G&G Teskas'

 The highlight this year was having Molly and Ben home for Christmas!  It was a relaxing and enjoyable day filled with family fun, a delicious meal, and a few games.

December 28th~ Luebke Family Christmas

It goes without saying, the Luebke gathering was missing a very important person this year, but with her memory with us all, we gathered together this past Saturday to celebrate Christmas as a family; we created some new memories and continued on with some old ones~ just as she would have liked it:) 

 The excitement for the day was hearing about the birth of baby Lauren and also hearing the news that my cousins, Trevon and Tessa, will be getting a new little brother or sister in July!

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I am glad I made it through this past week with this little one still nestled inside... now, it's officially baby time!  I have a mere 11 days until my due date, so it's time to switch gears and focus on his arrival:)