Sweet Christmas Traditions

This year, I made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. I bought a little bit of candy but also brought out leftover Halloween candy and our stash of candy the kids have collected from birthday parties, school, etc. It was a great way to use it all up! 

This was the first year Kyle decorated a gingerbread house. 

They had a great time and did a great job!

Of course a lot of candy and sprinkles were consumed in the process!

We also made our birthday cake for Jesus. I asked the girls what shape they wanted the cake -- square, circle, rectangle. Makena shouted out "Heart! Because Jesus loves us!" So a heart shape it was! They also wanted it to be green. 

Christmas Lights

The kids love Christmas lights. Whenever we drive around at night, the girls call out, "Pretty!" when they see a decorated house. One night after dinner, we made popcorn and hot chocolate and jumped in the car. We drove around some neighborhoods and enjoyed all the pretty lights. We stopped at one house that had its lights dance to music. 

We also found a home where the entire front yard was taken up by a huge train track that wrapped around an entire city of little homes. When we arrived, the nice couple came out, talked to us and gave the kids candy canes. 

Gingerbread Houses

One of the girls' favorite things to do during the Christmas season is decorate gingerbread houses. In the midst of all the packing and craziness, I wanted to be sure the girls didn't miss out on the things they enjoy. I made sure to buy a kit and make time for this. 

For the first time, Makena didn't eat more than she put on the houses! She did get a little frustrated when the bigger candies didn't stick on the houses. 

As usual, Karis carefully and methodically decorated her houses to perfection!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! We made you a cake!

One thing I (Lena) would like to do with Karis every Christmas Eve is to bake a birthday cake for Jesus. What would be better than doing one of my favorite things (baking), with my daughter, as a way to help remember why we celebrate Christmas?

This year, given that Karis is only one years old, we made a very simple cake. We made boxed vanilla cake which she helped me mix. I then made a cream cheese frosting and she helped me put it on top of the cake (for about four seconds and then I took over).

We took the cake to my sister's house for Christmas dinner and enjoyed the cake with everyone. I'm excited to have Karis help me a little more each year and to do something different with each one.

Here are a couple photos of Karis mixing the cake batter. It was a messy job, but someone had to do it.

She couldn't figure out how to use the whisk, so she just put her hands in the bowl.

"mmm, I know this handful of raw eggs, oil and flour is going to be delicious!"

The proud bakers:

Karis dipped her fingers in the cake to "test" it to make sure it was okay for everyone to eat.

Enjoying the fruits of our labor: