Highlights from the Holidays!

Here are just a few of the things we loved about the Holidays this year...

COUNTDOWNS

I think we were just as excited as the kids to take a link off each day.

CHRISTMAS CARDS, PHONE CALLS, & PACKAGES FROM FAMILY & FRIENDS

It was SO WONDERFUL hearing from our family & friends this year...THANKS everyone for helping us feel closer to home!

GETTING OUR CARD SENT

The highlight was that we got our cards sent BEFORE Christmas.......you may not have received them BY Christmas, but they were SENT before Christmas...YAY! Thanks Sams Club for helping me get them done quickly this year (and thanks Elizabeth in California for picking them up and mailing them to us).

MEETING SANTA

I think this was the 1st year we didn't have a child screaming during our visit to Santa. Check out Tia in last years post.

MAKING GINGERBREAD HOUSES WITH FRIENDS

Shane used his family recipe and "homemade" the gingerbread houses & frosting. They turned out fabulous...way to go hun! We had a great evening with friends!

Us & the Leonard's.

The Cummings & the Rothas'.

Our gingerbread house.

TAKING TREATS TO THE GATE GUARDS

Shane grew up in the military and every year took Christmas goodies to the gate guards.Shane and the kids making the treat bags.

The "Goods".

Delivering the treats to the gate guards.

We learned how sweet and gracious the Japanese are (all of the gate guards are Japanese policemen). They were so cute! They kept bowing and saying thank you. It made our day just seeing how excited they were. Jayden said he felt really happy! This will definitely become a tradition!

CHRISTMAS PJ'S

Growing up, my favorite thing about Christmas Eve was opening our Christmas PJ's from my Grandma Dorothy (and eating warm cinnamon rolls from Uncle Gene-I really missed those this year). Thanks mom for carrying on the PJ tradition. We LOVE them!

CELEBRATING JESUS

We talked a lot about how Christmas is celebrating the birth of Christ. Jayden REALLY wanted to give Jesus something for his birthday. We asked him what he thought Jesus would want and he thought for a LONG time and finally said... "I think Jesus would really like a new toothbrush!"

So, Jesus got a picture of a new "Diego" toothbrush for his birthday! Thanks Jayden for being so thoughtful...and practical :)

This month was very magical! I'm so grateful to both of our parents who taught us about the meaning of Christmas & how to make it such a magical time. We did MANY things this season that we both remember doing growing up. Thank you MOM & DAD Atkin & Andrews...our Christmas was GREAT because of you!

SANTA

We had a fun time teaching our kids about Santa and helping them believe! Jayden was so excited to hang this "special" key outside our door to let Santa in and he couldn't wait to see if Santa & his reindeer ate what we left them.

GIVING GIFTS

The BEST part about Christmas day was watching our kids GIVE their gifts.

Jayden giving dad "X-men The Wolverine." To see why Jayden was so excited to give it to dad click here.

And...here's our FAVORITE moment from Christmas day...

Listen to Jayden...he is so excited about the gift he's giving Tia that he keeps telling her how much she is going to "LOVE IT" (even when he sits down he says it again). He found this at the store a few weeks ago and has kept it a secret the whole time.

I'm sure you are thinking this is a random gift, but ever since we went to see the Big Buddha in Kamakura Tia gets way EXCITED when she sees a Buddha, so Jayden knew that she'd love it! I think she's a little shocked at first (or maybe she doesn't know what it is because it's a small Buddha)...but she sure loves it now.

Tia thanking Jayden for her present.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!