Monday, June 11, 2012

2011 Christmas with the Wilkins

Last year I did my Christmas post at the end of July.  It's still June, so I am so ahead of schedule!!!
Mostly, I just want to share a collection of pictures.  And that's probably mostly for me.  It was a lovely Christmas season, as always, and I am so grateful for that time of year. 
So, here goes...

First off, December 1st rolls around and out come the Advent Calendars.  I'm kind of a junkie when it comes to the countdown to Christmas.  We have some spiritual ones and some commercial ones and I hope to add more.  Maybe next Christmas I'll take some pictures of the fun we have crossing of the days to December 25th!

Now to something I did get photos of:

We always enjoy our Ward Christmas Party.  This year my parents unexpectedly showed up to drop something off and ended up staying for a while.  That made it extra special!

Rebecca and Papa Lay love each other a lot!










































































The kids love to see Santa. Rebecca stepped right up to tell him all her Christmas wishes.
Logan and Santa Claus
Luke was having a moment.  Santa was just not his thing right then, but Samantha let him get in like with her and helped make him feel better.
She loves Santa Claus so much.  I'm not sure I ever want to spoil the magic!
Luke was willing to walk up and grab his goodie bag.  I don't think Santa even got a handshake. ;o)


On the 14th, I went to the Smith School Christmas Program.  I still miss Mrs. Berg, but this was the best performance since her departure a few years back.  Logan is a ham and I love him at the end of the video.   




Pretty in purple Samantha
I adore his GQ pose here.  Handsome kid.








One of the really fun experiences we had was when our family was invited to go on a trolley ride with Santa!  We sang Christmas carols on the way and then the kids got to pick out any gift they wanted.  It was a lot of fun and we felt so grateful for the generous invitation.



Daddy, Timmy, Samantha on the trolley
Mommy and Rebecca
Luke and Logan
Santa and the kids
On the 18th, we were invited to my cousin's house for a birthday party for his son and daughter who had recently turned one and nine.  Jared and Heather and their family are the most fun!


Timmy was busy mooching cake off my Uncle Dave.

"Don't mind if I do!"  This is the result of so much fun partying going on that we didn't notice Timothy had decided to dive into the chocolate cake on his own!




Ramsey, Timmy, and Jackson.  These boys were all born within a month of each other.  So sweet. 




Finally, let the official Christmas Festivities begin!!!
We had our traditional Taco Dinner on Christmas Eve.  It's fun.  I wonder if we'll continue as the kids get older... Following this we went to see the Live Nativity and neighborhood Christmas lights out by our stake


The Christmas Jammies picture didn't get taken until the next morning.

Don't look at me in the picture.  Just focus on my new pajama pants.  They are covered in little PURPLE Eiffel Towers and postcard written in French!  (And they are oh-so-comfy.)
Becky and the Bath Dolly
Samantha with the collection of Beverly Cleary books we got.  I loved the Ramona books and Ross love the Mouse and the Motorcycle books, so it seemed a perfect fit for our family!
Ross with his new Aquabats CD.  By some miracle I found it in Helena!  Also, notice the box he just took it out of.  I never wrap just the CD because it's too easy to figure out what it is.  Always, always find a box to keep this man guessing.
Samantha Claus
Mario,  Luigi, Yoshi, Logan, Luke and Timothy.  You'll have to decide which is which.
Two views of our Christmas tree.  We went with a blue theme (with white lights) this year in addition to the dated ornaments we also have.  I like how it turned out!
Christmas Morning Mayhem!
After a lovely sacrament meeting (at which I realized I was getting sick -- blech), we went out to my parents' house for Christmas Dinner. We did cool things like watch Star Wars.
Mom and Me.  She's amazing and put together a lovely spread as always.  I am so grateful to both her and my Dad for teaching us of the Savior, Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas.  I love this holiday we have to remember Him!






No comments: