Christmas 2025

For the first time ever, my family decided to get together on Christmas Eve Eve so that we could spend the evening with Chris and his family (since they were spending Christmas Eve with Natalee's family).  This made for a really quick turn around since school had just gotten out three days earlier.  Never the less, we made the drive up to Issaquah and spent a wonderful evening with my family and enjoyed eating a delicious dinner and participating in the Christmas program.  Since we have never spent Christmas Eve at home before, we had fun coming up with some new activities for the day and evening.  The kids and I went and saw Moana II in the movie theater before coming back home to decorate our gingerbread houses.  Ron then went and picked up Panda Express for dinner so that I didn't have to cook two big meals two nights in a row and then we watched A Christmas Story in the evening.  We then celebrated another quiet and pleasant day at home on Christmas with gift opening, my parent's visit, and our traditional, Filipino dinner in the dining room.  It was a wonderful three days and a great way to kick off our winter break.

December 23rd:

Our annual family photo taken in front of my parents' tree on Christmas Eve Eve.

We enjoyed a delicious, dinner turkey with all of the fixings.  My parents were kind enough to sit in the kitchen with all of the younger children so that the adults and teenagers could eat dinner together in the dining room.

After dinner was over, we begun our traditional Christmas program.  We started off with the retelling of the nativity story.  Lia and Riley starred as Mary and Joseph again this year.

The entire group posing for a picture after the story was over.  Ella and Emmett were shepherds and Logan was one of the wise men.  This is always one of my favorite parts of the evening.

After the nativity story, we enjoyed several musical numbers.  Since Ella is in her school orchestra this year, she played two Christmas songs for us on her cello.

We then rang bells to several Christmas songs with Natalee leading us.  Here is Emmett ringing his bells.

And Ella and Brynn.

And Lia and Vivi.

Emmett asked on the spot if he could sing the song that he and Ella had just sung in church the day before with their primary.  He got right up and sang the first verse and the chorus to the song, "Little Lord Jesus," and did such a great job.

After singing several Christmas hymns, we finished with our traditional lighting of the Christmas tree with candles and singing "Silent Night" in both German and English.  Afterwards, several of the grandchildren asked to snuff out a candle.  Here is Ella snuffing out a candle with grandpa's supervision.  We finished off the evening by eating dessert before packing up and heading home.

December 24th:

For the first time ever, we were able to spend all of Christmas Eve at home.  I actually found this so nice and relaxing which is a rare thing for me to feel during the days leading up to Christmas.  Since we had such a busy December, we never had time as a family to gather around the kitchen table and decorate our gingerbread houses.  After learning that we were going to spend Christmas Eve at home, I decided that this would be the perfect afternoon activity.

This year, the girls decorated one house,

and the boys decorated the other one.  We spent a fun hour working on our houses together.

After eating our Chinese dinner, all six of us gathered in the family room to watch A Christmas Story.  It was so nice to spend Christmas Eve relaxing on a couch and watching this movie that always makes me laugh.

All four of our children looked so cute lined up on the floor, snuggled in their makeshift beds.

As we were heading to bed that night, I walked past our Christmas tree all lit up and surrounded by presents and marveled at how magical and beautiful it looked.  I just had to take a picture to capture the moment.

December 25th:

Luckily, the three younger children all slept past 7 o'clock on Christmas morning.  We made them wait until 8 a.m. before the woke up Lia and dragged her out of bed.  Ron and I went downstairs to turn on the lights and get ready for the children to join us.  Here is Emmett's couch with all of his Santa gifts--including a Bluey themed beach house and a Hexbug race track.

As always, Ella shared the large couch with Logan.  Her big gift this year was the American Girl Doll of the Year, Lila, whose main talent is gymnastics.  So, of course, Ella has been wanting this doll for a year now!

Logan's half of the couch with several toys, books, pajamas, and some favorite treats.

Lia's gifts are now found on the arm chair each Christmas and included framed posters from both of the fall shows she performed in this fall, plus several pieces of clothing, accessories, and jewelry.

All four children running down the stairs after being told it was time to come down to see their Santa gifts.

Emmett holding up his Hexbug track with total excitement.

Logan smiling at me as he looks over his gifts.

Ella and Lia checking out all of Lia's goodies.

Emmett playing with his train table that was on display in the foyer.

Ella immediately broke out her new doll and the gym set that she also cam with this collection.  Ella loved playing with Lila on the bars and having her doll do all the same routines that she does in real life.

Logan and Ron set up his new Connect 4 game and played a few rounds before breakfast.

After the children had some time to play with their toys and enjoy their gifts for a little bit, we took a break to eat our Christmas breakfast in the dining room.

Afterwards, we gathered back in the living room to open up the presents under the tree.  Here are all four kiddos posing for me before passing out the gifts.

Mom opening up one of her gifts.

All four kids wearing the handmade scarves that Aunt Blanche had made and mailed to us.

After opening up gifts, eating lunch, and taking a well-needed afternoon nap, my parents came over for about an hour in the late afternoon to exchange gifts with us.  We always enjoy their visit each year as it is one of the highlights of the day.

After my parents left, Ron helped me make our traditional, Filippino dinner that we enjoyed eating at the end of the evening.  As always, it was the perfect way to end this wonderful day!

The Weekend Before Christmas...

 After working seven school days in a row, I was able to take the last two days of school off to try to get caught up on everything and to be ready for the holidays.  We managed to squeeze several fun activities into the first weekend of break before celebrating Christmas a few days later.  Here is a quick run down of the weekend...

December 20th:

Lia's friend, Jared, came over for dinner on Friday night and to help decorate Christmas cookies with all four of the children before watching Home Alone.  The kids all had a great time frosting the cookies while I dipped our favorite chocolate balls at the stove.

December 21st:

After taking the three younger kids to my parents' house for dinner, we drove into Bellevue to watch the Christmas parade called Snowflake Lane.  This is only the second time we have done this and we all enjoyed watching the parade and then playing in the amazing play area in Bellevue Square afterwards.

The kids posing with a giant nutcracker along the side of the road.

December 22nd:

The kids all dressed up and ready to go to church for the annual, Christmas program.

The kids and me in front of our tree.

Ella and Emmett were asked to sing a duet for the song, "Little Lord Jesus," with the primary for the Christmas program.  I sat on the front row and loved seeing them sing so close to me.  They did such a great job!

On Sunday evening, NWTL hosted their annual, holiday ball.  Just like last year, I volunteered to be in charge of the food, so the girls and I arrived early and stayed late.  We spent a fun evening eating, talking, and playing an epic White Elephant game.  Here is Lia sitting next to her friend, Alex, after stealing a darling blanket and stuffed animal (that she ended up losing).

Ella opening up her gift.

The girls and me posing for a picture during the party.

Lia's Winter Choir Concert

 After a very busy day of working, shuttling children around, baking brownies for Ella's Market Day the next day, and feeding the family dinner, I raced off to attend Lia's winter concert at her high school.  Since she now sings in the Concert Choir, her group always sings last in the program.  They sang six songs, starting out with my all-time favorite, "Carol of the Bells," that I also sang in my high school choir.  After a hectic day, it was as lovely way to spend the last part of the evening and enjoy the holiday spirit.

Lia singing in the Alto section with her director in the foreground.

Lia posing after the concert with her friend, Jared, who sings in the Vocal Ensemble choir (that has a tradition of wearing pajamas every year to the holiday concert).

Ella's Award Assembly

A few days ago, Ron and I received emails stating that Ella would be recognized in the upcoming awards assembly at her school.  I was luckily able to find a half-day job at her school that started right after the assembly was over so that I could attend her assembly before hand.  Ron came rushing in from work to join me in the gym right as Ella's grade was receiving their awards.  Ella received one for empathy from her teacher and her certificate said, "Ella has a remarkable ability to understand and connect with others' feelings, showing empathy and kindness in everything she does."  I thought this was such a compliment to Ella and the wonderful girl she is.  Way to go, Ella!  We are so proud of you!

Ella standing next to some other 5th graders after walking up to receive her award at the front of the gym.

All of the 5th and 6th grade students who received an award for empathy today.

My cute girls posing with her certificate after the assembly was over.

Journey to Bethlehem 2024

Our family headed out this evening to attend the Journey to Bethlehem experience at a the large Adventist church in Auburn.  This has been a family tradition ever since Lia and Logan were little and we have enjoyed attending it every year since then, with the exception of the few years that it was closed due to Covid.  It is one of the few Christ-centered activities that I can find in the area and it really helps to bring the birth story of Jesus alive for all of us.  We enjoyed a wonderful hour following our tour guides around the different stages of the nativity story and finished up with hot cider and cookies back in the church afterwards.

Lia feeding the live camel a carrot after meeting the three wise men.

Waiting for the Roman soldiers to open the gate before entering the town of Bethlehem.

Although this picture is kind of blurry, I had to include it as it shows Lia dancing with Emmett in the town of Bethlehem after walking through the market.  It was so cute to see them dancing with several of the actors.

Singing "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" with the actors at the nativity scene.

All four kiddos posing for a quick photo after our journey to Bethlehem was over.