Our Family Christmas

(Better late than never with this post!)

James and I wanted to make sure that we were in our own home making our own traditions with Jack for our first Christmas in the new house this year.  So after a great weekend with our extended family, we headed back to Neenah!

Our downtown Christmas tree at the "Christmas in Neenah" event a few weeks before Christmas

One tradition we had heard about from our neighborhood association when we moved in is luminaries in the neighborhood on Christmas Eve.  We were really excited to see it for the first time.  Every house in our neighborhood lines the curb with luminary bags and lights them at dusk.  It was just beautiful!  We bundled up and walked around to look at all the lights together.

It was definitely a White Christmas in Wisconsin... we got 14 inches of snow the week before Christmas!

After looking at the neighborhood lights, Santa (our neighbor) came to visit Jack! He gave him a teddy bear from his bag of toys.  Jack was stunned and didn't say much when he was here, but after Santa left Jack kept saying "ho ho ho!" (Jack finally picked up saying "ho ho ho" before Christmas... and now every man with a beard is called "Ho Ho")

One of James's traditions from when he was a little boy is to make sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.  So we decided we'd try that with Jack. Well, I think he understood that sprinkles taste good!  Other than that, I think we'll have better luck next year. He just kept on either eating sprinkles directly from my hand or picking sprinkles off the already sprinkled cookies.  So after Jack went to bed, James finished frosting and decorating the cookies for Santa.

After cookie making, we got Jack ready for bed and read Twas the Night Before Christmas.  We looked at the tree for a little bit, then this big boy was ready for bed!

... Santa came...

 After Jack went to bed, James and I watched Christmas movies on TV and James put together some of Jack's gifts for the morning.

The next morning I made a big breakfast and then we opened Jack's stocking and some presents from Santa!

Santa brought Jack a table for his games and arts and crafts! He went around and tried every chair, it was cute.

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Kane gave Jack some art supplies for his new table

Our little artist at work 

The rest of the day was very low key which was great after the hustle and bustle of the weekend.  We read stories, drew with Jack, napped, and watched some Christmas movies.  It was a great first family Christmas in our new house!  Can't wait to have two little ones to share it with next year!