Christmas!

 Our Christmas was small and sweet. It was just us. We created some new traditions, keep to some of our old ones.

Christmas Eve was busier. We had a Christmas church service in the morning. The afternoon we spent riding on the MTA's Holiday nostalgia train, an old train from the early 30s. The kids rode in the very front and got to look out of the front of the train window. The original adds were up on the walls, light bulb fixtures, and fans on the ceiling. From there we went to the Church of Heavenly Rest to see their annual Christmas pageant. Kids from the community perform, and there are live animals. It was beautiful and a wonderful way to remember and rejoice in our Savior's birth. I especially loved singing the hymns with worshipers from all over the NYC area. It was wonderful to be a with people who believe and rejoice in our Savior. I loved being there so much. And being in a cathedral on Christmas Eve was just perfect. It felt like our first Christmas together.

Our new Christmas tradition we started this year, was coming home and making Santa cookies on Christmas eve. The kids and I had a list of what we were going to make him. We only got around to two of the like five cookies we were going to make, but it was fun, and eating the dough was the best. We made chocolate chip, because Cosette said they are Santa's favorite, and Christmas tree shortbread cookies. We cut out some holes in the Christmas trees and put a hard candy in them. While baking, the candy would melt, and make it look like the tree was decorated with Christmas ornaments. They turned out okay, it was our "first pancake" if you know what I mean. Lessons learned for next year.

Christmas morning was exciting! The kids make it so exciting. They, of course, could not wait. We baracated the entrance to the living room with all our kitchen chairs, so the kids could not get in. They still managed to get through, but no unwrapped presents till we were all present. The best thing is hearing them exclaim, "this is what I wanted!", or just getting so excited for their gift. My favorite is when they opened their sibling gifts. It was so cute watching their reactions and how thankful they were to each other for their present. The other best was the present they got for Daddy. We got him a membership to the New York Botanic Garden, so we could go see the holiday train show. The kids colored train pictures and put them in an envelope with the temporary membership. He said it was his favorite present. Then we rested and enjoyed our gifts. Our kids have never played with their toys for so long, and so well together. That was the best Christmas present. We finished the day with our tradition of going to our favorite Indian restaurant for dinner. 

The kids all agreed this was the best Christmas ever. 

 A ton of photos from our Christmas season in NYC. It is the best place for the holiday hands down.





































Wishing everyone a Christmas filled with peace and joy. Merry Christmas!


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