HO HO HO and other thoughts

Right after thanksgiving Christian kept on talking about a date that he was planning. It ended up being one of the best dates ever. He called it the craft date. We made Christmas cards, snow flakes, and went free bin diving in the laundry mats to find cool fabric to make stockings. I was happy because we were making crafts together and he was happy because it cost $0.00. Today I mailed off the Christmas cards and hope that they will reach you before Christmas. They started out looking like this.



Christian sewed the card stock but after 10 cards, way too much thread, and a whole lot of time I simplified them so that they looked like this.




I actually like the second kind better. Christian also made stockings with the fabric that we
found. Notice how the horses (I think they are horses) and flowers are upside down. The one in the middle I bought at the swap meet.


Last week I walked in the house and Christian had put this up.


In Brazil we hang things that look like this from the doorway to keep bad spirits away. I did NOT know what mistletoe was. My first Christmas with Americans was the one I met the family in Hawaii 2003. It was the first time I opened presents on the 25th instead of the 24th and the first time I ever had a stocking (the highlight of the day!). What I know about American Christmas traditions I learned from you guys. Christian was cute to get mistletoe and has showed me the very useful purpose that it serves.



He and Enzo went to a Christmas tree farm and they came back with a nice looking tree. At the swap meet last month I got a Christmas tree stand for a dollar. It was a great deal except that it's for huge trees and our tree doesn't really make the cut. We've had to do some major MacGyver moves to make the stand and the tree work together.




I like decorating for Christmas and am trying to make an effort to keep in mind the savior and the real reason we celebrate Christmas. I've been trying harder to feel the spirit in church. I feel like I spend all of sacrament meeting doing damage control and can never actually pay attention to the talks. This past Sunday Enzo moved behind us at some point and was actually quietly looking at his book. I was really getting into the talk when suddenly Enzo decides he wants to join us again and JUMPS from the back bench to the front one. He obviously did not make it and hit his head first on the back panel of the bench we were sitting on then on his bench and then there was a very loud thump as he hit his head on the floor. I am convinced that the 2-4 seconds of silence after they get hurt while they prepare to scream gives the parents just enough time to get your kid and run. He was really mad the rest of the morning. During his afternoon nap we made gingerbread cookies/people. We handed them out to some of our neighbors and used the rest to decorate our tree. Since we can't give any to you guys here is what we prepared for you.



Christian wanted his gingerbread person to be wearing a wetsuit. I'm the one in the middle and Enzo is the angry gingerbread on the right. I love you guys very much and I am sad that everyone is so dispersed this year. Pam, Adam, Colleen and Bouchers have fun going to the beach and enjoying each other. Jesse and Bekah, I hope you guys have a wonderful time in Tokyo with Ben and Yuki. Enoch and Amy, have fun in NY play in the snow for us. Sienna the first Christmas I spent away from my family was really hard but also allowed me to focus on how much I truly love Christian. I hope you and Tony have a wonderful time in OK. Kaity and Danny I better see you guys sometime this week! And for the friends part of the blog have a wonderful day. I hope you find yourselves with people you love and with a sweet spirit as you remember the saviors birth.
FELIZ NATAL, Da