Three Kings Day...

Recently I was complaining to Ben about the monotony of my days and how I wished it was still Christmas... I really don't like how there's this humongous lead up to Christmas Day and then all of the sudden it disappears in one swift night just to be replaced by the next mass marketed holiday (no offense Valentine's Day... I really do like you). So to appease my longing to rewind the clock and to something special on a not so eventful week we celebrated Three Kings Day. It was really cool actually and I think we will do it every year now. Three Kings Day (the 12th Night, Epiphany, the last day of Christmas... whatever you want to call it, it's all the same thing... google it if you want to find out more) is basically a celebration in honor of the Three Kings' (wise men) visit to baby Jesus and confirmation that God has indeed come and made himself among us. It widely celebrated in the rest of our world, just not here in America... go figure.

In preparation for our last night of Christmas, Lizzie and I made a Dreikonigskuchen, a German version of a Three Kings Cake. It was basically a sweet yeast bread with cinnamon, sugar and currants and/or raisins... it tasted like a big giant cinnamon roll, so good! We hid a our little baby Jesus figurine from our Playmobil Nativity inside the twists (Playmobil is awesome and must celebrate this holiday since their website said the baby was bake-able... I think I need to go back to Europe)! We printed out crowns for the girls to wear and play with (thanks Dora and Nick Jr.) and then ate a meal together as a family. After dinner Ben read the story of the Three Wise Men from Lizzie's new Bible (we actually ended up reading the whole Christmas story) and then ate cake. Lizzie was the one who found the baby Jesus in her slice (it was slightly rigged... shhh don't tell) so she was the one who got to pick what we did that evening as a family together. I'm sure you all can guess what we did... yep, two rounds of her Littlest Pet Shop board game, we play it so much even Abby joins us now! ;) It was a such a nice way to end the Christmas season and remember what it's truly all about.

Lizzie's piece of cake with a little something special inside!

Abby thought finding toys in food was the coolest thing she's ever seen.

Bye, bye Christmas... I'll miss you!

Christmas Day...

Okay, so I know these are more than a little late, I'm still fighting to catch up, but Christmas morning (and the rest of that day) are finally up here now...

We had a nice, not too early, morning with a big breakfast, lots of coffee and two little girls who were incredibly excited that Christmas morning had finally arrived. Steve and Shannon were actually able to join us for a little bit before their crazy house jumping day began and Heidi joined us online... still nowhere near like actually being there but we all at least got a chance see her for a little bit that morning. The girls received a ton of toys... good thing we brought an extra suitcase. Lizzie was crazy (as you saw in the video below) and Abby was actually into the opening presents, so much fun! After hanging out enjoying our newly found treasures from that morning we headed over to Ben's Grandma's house for a huge dinner, games and more family.

The quiet before the storm

Abby's turn... I love that she's old enough to actually participate now!

Talking with Heidi on the computer

Such a silly monkey... she was totally loving Lizzie's box from her petshop house. Why is it that the boxes and paper are just as much fun as the actual presents?!

Dinner at Grandma's

Game time...

I think somebody needs to start drinking coffee! ;)

What Lizzie Got for Christmas...

This is Lizzie's version of what she got for Christmas! If you haven't seen the video below watch it first. Man, Christmas is so much fun with little kids. ;)

Lizzie's Christmas Morning...

Here's Lizzie opening her present from us on Christmas morning... I wish I could get that excited over stuff. I so love it.

Christmas in Seattle...

We spent our Christmas vacation up at Ben's parents place. It was super nice to just relax, hangout with family and just enjoy some time away from work and life in LA. We didn't have much on the list of things to do while we where up there... just Abby's birthday celebration, shopping for Christmas presents, catching up with some old friends and playing games until 2am (so awesome). The two weeks went by incredibly fast, too fast and I can't wait until we go up there again. Thanks for having us up there! ')

Ah jetBlue how I love thee... with your non icky seats, non-stop flights and tv for all!

Lizzie was in heaven with all the constant playmates

We went for a walk in Coluon Park to look at all of the lights and to see Steve and Shannon's new place... Ben was really wishing Ivar's was open that late at night!

Abby's Birthday in Video - Part 2...

One of the presents Abby received for her birthday was a toy vacuum (so all your fault Ruth! ;)), which Lizzie kept calling a hairdryer, and immediately upon opening Abby attempted to suck up all of Lizzie's Littlest Pet Shop stuff. I think there might be some animosity with her and those little toys!

Abby's Birthday in Video...