Christmas 2020

We wrapped up another Christmas season today.  Although there were many activities, events, and traditions that we were unable to participate in this year due to Covid-19, I can honestly say that our family still really enjoyed a wonderful, Christmas season.  Thanks to our advent calendar, we were able to do a daily activity that centered around Christmas in one way or another.  In addition, it was also nice to just have a slower paced month where we enjoyed more time at home as a family.  Since we really wanted to be able to spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family, I decided to buckle down and keep the kids and me at home as much as possible.  With the influx of Covid cases that started the end of October, we really didn't see many friends or other people in November and December.  As a result, we were able to all stay healthy which allowed us to go to my parent's home for Christmas Eve dinner and host them for a quick visit on Christmas day.  Although my parents requested that we all wear face masks in their home for the first time since this pandemic started, we really enjoyed a normal Christmas Eve with a delicious dinner and the traditional program afterwards.  We then spent a quiet Christmas morning at home as a family with the kids enjoying their Santa gifts first before eating breakfast and opening up the presents under the tree.  My parents then came and visited for about an half hour to exchange gifts and to see what the children had gotten.  After they left, we enjoyed a late lunch and a slow afternoon with naps and watching Frozen II that Ella had received as a gift.  Ron then helped me make our traditional, Filipino dinner that we ate in the dining room before putting the kids to bed and calling it a day.  I'm so glad that we were still able to enjoy this magical and special holiday with all of the chaos and craziness going on in the world today!

Our annual, Hartland family picture that I make a point of asking someone in my family to take every year.

Another shot of our family in front of my parent's Christmas tree.

My parents chose to eat dinner in the kitchen with the children to try to distance themselves from the rest of us adults who ate in the dining room.

A shot of my family all masked up and ready to start the program after finishing dinner.

Since Ella has lost both of her bottom, middle teeth in the past few weeks, we decided that we just had to sing, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth!" for one of the musical numbers.

Aunt Natalee broke out her bells so that we could "ring" out a few Christmas songs.  Here is Emmett all ready to go.

Ella and her bells.

Lia ringing away while being directed by Aunt Natalee.

The kids also participated in our traditional nativity story.  Lia was Mary and Logan was Joseph this year.  Here they are placing the baby in the "manger" after walking into the room.

Ella chose to be the angel who made the announcement of Christ's birth to the shepherds.

The entire group standing together while Chris finished reading the story from The Bible.

Callie and Vivi chose to be the "stars" again this year and just looked so funny with face masks, crowns, and crutches (due to Vivi's recent, foot surgery).

As always, we finished off the evening by singing several Christmas hymns which I enjoyed so much since we are not allowed to sing at church right now and didn't have the chance to sing Christmas music every Sunday in December.  My dad lit the candles on the Christmas tree at the end of the program before we sang "Silent Night" in both English and German.

The kids all took turns snuffing out a candle or two on the tree.  Here is Logan snuffing out a few.

Ella putting out a flame on a candle.

And Lia, too.

A picture of  Ella's gifts from Santa waiting for her on the couch Christmas morning.  Her big gifts this year included a second, American Girl Doll and a family tablet to share with her siblings.

Logan's Santa gifts waiting next to Ella's on their shared couch.  His big gifts included a remote control robot, a D-0 Lego set, and a second family tablet.

Lia's Santa gifts on her own sofa.  Her big gifts included another American Girl Doll for her extensive collection and several, retired outfits for her historical doll, Felicity.

Emmett's little chair of Santa gifts.  He got his own little bike to ride inside the house and a set of wooden, train tracks with several Thomas the Train cars.

The kids did pretty good staying in bed until around 7 a.m.  After everyone was awake, we made them wait upstairs while we turned on the lights and got ready to go.  They were all so excited as they ran down the stairs!

Logan and Ella (with their blankets in tow) leaping down the stairs while Lia walked calmly down with Emmett in her arms.

Logan and Ella taking in all of their Santa gifts before picking anything up.  I just love this picture!

Lia carefully putting Emmett down to look at his gifts.

Although I wasn't able to get a picture of it, Lia grabbed her new AGD and fell on the floor.  This is the picture that I managed to take of her after she recovered and stood back up.

Logan showing off his new ornament that he found in his stocking.

Logan and Ella holding one of the items they found in their stockings.

The children all enjoyed playing with some of their toys before breakfast was served.  Here is Emmett playing with his new train set.

Ella modeling the Frozen-themed, fake nails that she has just put on.

Lia immediately grabbed her camera to take a picture of her new doll.

Since both Ron and I were busy making breakfast, Logan unpacked his robot and put the entire thing together by himself.  He is just amazing like that!  He got the entire thing put together and working by the end of the morning.

Ron and the kids enjoying our Christmas breakfast of eggs, bacon, and  rolls.

Normally, we take a picture in front of the tree before we start unwrapping the gifts each year in our pajamas.  Since my parents were planning on coming earlier this year, we decided to all get dressed in case they came while we were still opening up presents.

A four kiddos before passing out and opening up our gifts.

Ella opening up her new Frozen II DVD.

Ella jumping for joy after realizing what movie she had received.

Emmett got a little bored and restless during gift opening time until he opened up a large, toy truck from Aunt Renee and Uncle Derek.  As a result, he entertained himself for a few minutes walking up the stairs and sliding down them over and over again.

Lia opening up one of her gifts.

I usually take a picture every year with the my parents, but completely forgot about it until after they had already left.  As a result, the only other picture that we took the rest of the day was of the kids and me sitting down to enjoy our Christmas dinner.  It was a delicious way to spend our day!

Visiting Donner and Blitzen

In planning a daily activity for our advent calendar this month, I decided to take the kids to do something that I have always wanted to do, but have never found the time before.  Since our calendar has been so much more empty this December compared to previous years, it was easy to find a day to take the children to see the reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, who "fly" in every year to our local nursery.  Santa supposedly loans two of his trusty reindeers every December to this nursery and it was fun to take the kids to see them for the first time.  Since we went on a weekday morning today, there was luckily no lines and we were able to go right in and take a gander at these fascinating beasts of the north.  Logan and Ella were both fascinated by the fact that these were real reindeer here on loan from Santa and Emmett had a great time staring at them through the fence trying to figure out what they were.  Here are some photos of our morning outing that was a perfect activity to do days before Christmas! 

All four kids posing in front of the pen that houses these reindeer in December.

An up close photo of Ella and one of the reindeers munching away.

Ella and Emmett.

Donner and Blitzen walking around the back of their pen.

Logan's First Day on the Slopes!

After years of talking about it, Ron and I finally decided that this was THE YEAR for Logan to hit the slopes for the first time.  Although I have always wanted all of my children to grow up as snow skiers, Ron pointed out to me a few years ago that it wouldn't be fair to him if all of his children were skiers and he was the only snowboarder in the family.  As much as I hated to see his point, I realized very quickly that he was right and so Ron decided to raise our boys as snow boarders and left the girls to me to be raised as snow skiers.  After getting an amazing and free amount of snowboard gear, equipment, and clothing from a co-worker last year, we decided that we should start Logan snow boarding this year and Ella the next year (when hopefully my knees are healed enough to hit the slopes again to help her).  Since the ski resorts all require advanced ticket purchases this year due to Covid-19, Ron got online a few weeks ago and bought tickets for the three of them to go "skoarding" on the first official day of Winter Break today.  Since Logan does not do well with change and really despises trying anything new, Ron and I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a 2-hour, private lesson for this morning.  We knew that if he had a bad, first experience snow boarding in a group class that it could negatively impact his attitude and desire to ever go again for months if not years to come.  We felt like this would be a worthwhile investment.

Since Logan was not happy about the fact that Ron had reserved his lesson and purchased tickets for them a few weeks ago, he was pretty worried and scared on last night.  Ron and I both had private, pep talks with him and Logan and I even said a prayer to help him being brave on the slopes and to have a positive experience.  After packing everything up in the afternoon, we got the kids to bed early last night for their 6:30 wake up call.  Since I woke up before they left, I will able to slip downstairs and wish Logan good luck again and say another prayer with him.  It sure felt strange to not be with him for the first time he was trying something new and challenging as I have always been with him before.  Lia's friend, Elle, and her dad who were joining them for the day and came to our house at 6:45 and the entire gang pulled out five minutes later.  I wondered all day long how Logan was doing, but never got any text updates from Ron.  I had to wait until they got home after 6 p.m. to learn that his first day went as great as could be expected.  They made it up to the mountain in time to find his teacher a few minutes before 10 a.m.  Logan then had a good, first lesson with her and was as happy as could be when he broke for lunch with Ron and the rest of the group.  After lunch, Lia was able to ski with her friend and dad while Ron gave Logan a second lesson all afternoon.  Ron was able to move Logan from the small, magic carpet up to the big one and he said that if they had been given one more hour that he could have taken him on the chairlift for the first time.  Logan really picked up the basics of snowboarding quickly and was cruising down the little, bunny slopes with ease and even making some turns by the end of the day.  He was in such a good mood tonight at dinner.  I was so relieved to hear this news and just thought that he looked so cute boarding down the hill in the videos that Ron took of him. 

Logan and Lia heading up to the slopes after arriving in the morning.

Logan and Lia with Elle.

Lia taking off on her skis.

Logan working with his instructor at the end of class.

Logan taking a break from boarding.

Logan falling over while boarding down the hill with Ron in the afternoon.

 A very hot and tired boy heading back to the car at the end of the day. I just love this picture! Apparently, I overdressed him and he will need to wear less layers in future (just like his father)!