Christmas Eve Traditions

In a typical year, the Christmas Season lasts for about a month. It "officially" starts the day after Thanksgiving, and usually builds up until Christmas Day. Sometimes people celebrate a bit here and there until New Years Day. For me, the excitement builds and builds and peaks on Christmas Eve.

Nativity Tradition

One of the common traditions for the Christmas season is to do a reenactment of the Nativity scene. There's always Mary, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, the inn keeper, baby Jesus, a donkey, sheep, angels, and whatever else we can think of until we run out of people. I actually love doing the nativity reenactments. Even though it's the same story year after year, no two are ever the same.

The Awesome that is Martial Arts

"Wax on. Wax off." I'm pretty sure anyone who is anyone can identify that quote without much effort. This is especially true for anyone over the age of 30. That is because we come from the Karate Kid era. That's the era of thinking martial arts was our ticket to AWESOME. I was never able to persuade my parents to enroll me in a class. I guess I was just lucky that, regardless of this fact, I still turned out AWESOME.

The Christmas Card Attempt

Kingston is quite the character. Getting a nice picture of the kids to send out with our Christmas cards was quite the challenge this year.

Slightly Silly

Borderline Evil

Definitely wicked

Frightfully jovial

Fully Silly

It all worked out in the end. I sure have some cute kids. A few funny faces just adds to the enjoyment. It also brought on some laughs. What could be more Merry Christmas than that?

The Possibilities are Endless

There's something magical about playing dress up when you're a child. It's not just clothing. It's a whole experience. You put on a wizard's robe from Harry Potter, and you are IN that story. You ARE at Hogwarts!

Careful What You Pack Away

Look what we found as we were unpacking our Christmas decorations! 

I knew I should have double checked after Cameron packed things up last year.

#totallykidding #dontcallCPS

Last Day in DC

{This is part four of a four blog series covering our awesome Anniversary trip to Washington DC. Read the previous 3 days' posts to see all four installments}

When you're on vacation you want to make the most of every single minute you are there. Cam and I felt this way about our Anniversary Trip to Washington DC, too. After spending all day walking around DC on Saturday, there were still a half a dozen must see tourist things that we wanted to try to shove into our day before heading back home Monday afternoon. Sometimes though, our hearts are willing, but our bodies aren't able.

We had an appointment to tour the FBI headquarters Monday morning. I had signed us up months in advance, and they were very specific about what we could and could not bring on the tour. We were there bright and early, not quite sure what the tour would entail. We weren't allowed to take photographs inside the building. I wasn't even allowed to bring a purse inside. Mysterious....

Sabbath Away From Home

{This is part three of a four blog series covering our awesome Anniversary trip to Washington DC. Read the previous two days' posts, and stay tuned tomorrow for the final installment}


I'm glad that Sundays exist. We believe that the Sabbath is a sacred day meant for focusing on our spiritual growth. It means spending time in church and doing other more reverent things. Thankfully, that usually also means resting and recharging physically. This is even more true when you aren't doing the usual caring for five children. It was a nice break from normal.

An Epic Day of Touring

{This is day two of a four blog series covering our awesome Anniversary trip to Washington DC. Read yesterday's post to see the beginning, and stay tuned the next two days to see the remaining installments}

The Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City is attached to the Fashion Centre mall. I wasn't sure how that would work out for us, but I ended up really liking it! It gave us access to parking that was half the price of the valet with the hotel. It also gave us some good options for a quick breakfast on the go. There were a few options, but I usually opted to get something yummy from Panera.

On Our Way to Washington DC!

{This is part one of a four blog series covering our awesome Anniversary trip to Washington DC. Stay tuned the next three days to see all four installments}

Wedding Anniversaries are a big deal in our house. Marriage is sacred. It's something to be remembered and celebrated as often as possible. Cameron and I do date night every Friday night. In addition to that, we make a big to-do about our anniversary every year.

The two of us take turns planning for the occasion. We've learned the hard way that when we are both planning, then really, neither of us are planning. This year it was my turn to plan the festivities. I started well in advance. Cameron is passionate about patriotism, and had never visited the nation's capitol. As a result, I determined that our destination of choice was definitely Washington DC.