Celebrating our first Christmas together with Owen was the perfect time to come up with some new family traditions of our own. With the hustle and bustle of Christmas, it's always nice to have a tradition that brings you back to the true meaning of Christmas...
While shopping at Target one afternoon, Owen became quite captivated by an advent calendar that he stumbled upon. He loved opening and closing all the tiny doors. It was quite the challenge to pull him away! And thus was the start of a new holiday tradition for our family. Owen loves our advent calendar - as each door is opened, you find a piece of the nativity scene and hear a story about the meaning behind each piece. So not only is it fun, but educational. What a great way to learn about the birth of Jesus.
Owen wasn't too fond of opening just one door a day (can you blame him!) He loved working ahead and pulling out each magnet to create a very "unique" nativity scene.
Another new tradition for us this year was the lighting of the advent wreath. We all enjoyed the warm glow from the advent wreath throughout the Christmas season to help us remember what Christmas is all about.
On Christmas Eve, we awoke bright and early and headed to Apple Valley to enjoy breakfast at Owen's Grandma Slominski's house. The homemade caramel rolls were fantastic! Just ask Owen - he wouldn't even try anything else! After breakfast, it was time to open the first round of presents. All eyes were on Owen as he went from present to present investigating all his new and interesting toys. On the top of his favorites list was his very own laptop and an etch-a-sketch..."Do you mind Mom? I'm working here."
"Wow...this is so cool..."
After working hard on what any mom would call a priceless piece of art, he proudly brought it over to show his masterpiece to his Grandmas...
"See what I made Grandma Slominski?"
"Isn't my drawing beautiful Great Grandma Dineen?"
He quickly grabbed his stocking and started digging in!
After presents, it was time to go to Great Grandma and Grandpa Dineen's in Burnsville, so we loaded up the car and off we went. Owen conked out on the car ride over which we thought was great. He'd be able to get his late morning nap in! (Lack of sleep and Owen do not mix well!) We tried ever so hard to move him from the car to his pack-and-play without waking him. But alas, our valiant effort failed. Owen woke up and would not go back to sleep. He must have been in the Christmas spirit - even without his nap he was in a great mood!
"Isn't my drawing beautiful Great Grandma Dineen?"
At first Owen wasn't too interested in his stocking...that is until Papa pulled something out of it. That definitely sparked his interest! He bent down as low as he could to try to see what other fun things were in there...
He quickly grabbed his stocking and started digging in!
Owen was mesmerized by all of his great-grandma's talking Christmas decorations.
He especially liked the 'melting' snowman that would grow, sing a song (rather loudly) and then 'melt'. Aunt Donna thought it was a little creepy, but Owen got a big kick out of it!
He quickly figured out how to turn the snowman on by pressing his hand. Owen loved it so much that his great-grandma sent it home with us! Too bad there's no volume control!
Soon it was time to play the white elephant game (although none of the gifts are truly white elephants!) Owen had fun rolling the dice...
Owen "won" his very own pet alligator in the white elephant game. His alligator was in desperate need of a snack, and Owen knew just what to do...
We thought we'd take a quick family picture before opening gifts, but Owen didn't think that was such a great idea...
"Let's open gifts NOW!!"
Owen especially liked Great Grandpa Dineen's gift (a picture of Owen!)...
While the traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Cosetta's mostaccioli was being prepared, Owen's Great Aunt Donna kept him entertained...
After dinner, it was time for another Christmas Eve tradition - birthday cake for Jesus. Unfortunately for Owen, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep during dinner, so no birthday cake for him. Owen was still fast asleep when it was time to head to church. We quickly got him ready, snapped a family photo and off we went.
Owen loved watching the procession at church as the bell ringer entered. He clapped and swayed along with the music. Owen looked so adorable in his suit that he charmed all the ladies sitting behind us. One even came up to us after church to comment on how cute our son was. He's quite the little flirt!
After church, we returned home to find that Santa had stopped by to drop off a sleigh full of toys! Owen quickly ran over to see what Santa had brought him...
Owen had a ball playing with all his new toys...
Owen even got gifts for Papa and Mama. He gave Papa a golf ball ornament with his picture on...
And Mama got a Willow Tree jewelry box and figurine...
Owen got a ginormous dinosaur fort from Mama and Papa that fills up our entire living room!
Owen had fun helping set up the dinosaur...
And Zoe and Eli had a great time playing in the dinosaur box...
Soon it was time for Owen (and his Mama and Papa!) to get to bed. We headed upstairs to discover that we had had yet another visitor while we were out! El niño Jesus had left more presents for Owen! Bedtime would have to wait!
Owen was so excited to see two more of his favorite pal Mister Froggy!! He grabbed them both and gave them a huge hug! Now no more worries about losing his dear pal - he's got 2 in reserve!
Owen was happy to discover that El niño Jesus had brought him a cell phone! He grabbed that phone and would not put it down. He jabbered on and on - luckily long distance is free!!
Owen wouldn't even put his phone down to test out his new ride - I think he's watched his Papa drive one time too many!!
Finally, it was time for Owen to hit the hay. He had had a wonderful day and quickly fell fast asleep. With Owen snoozing away, Shane and I exchanged gifts. I surprised Shane with a wine cooler...
...and Shane "surprised" me with an external hard drive for my new Mac - I have WAY too many pictures to store! (Sorry there's no picture of me with my gift - I'm the one who's snap happy with the camera!)After waiting patiently all night, Zoe and Eli were finally able to open their presents. Eli stuck his head right in to see what he had gotten...
But Zoe was a bit more apprehensive...
They were both super excited to be treated to dried Herring Steaks for a Christmas Eve treat...
Eli got a new favorite mouse to destroy. He's very particular about his mice - there's only one type that he loves and he goes crazy whenever he gets a new one (it must be the catnip!)
And Zoe had a wonderful time rolling all over her new scratch pad and covering herself with catnip...
After all the gifts had been opened, off to bed we went...Christmas Day morning was going to arrive way too soon...
5:30 AM Christmas Day we were up and moving. We packed up the luggage, the cats and Owen and off we headed to North Dakota. After a 6 1/2 hour drive, we pulled up to my parents house in Fessenden just in time for a delicious lunch followed by presents. Owen eagerly ripped into his first gift...
"Check out my new choo choo train!"
Emma was the next to open a gift...
Owen was so fascinated by Emma's gift that nothing could pry him away, not even other gifts for him!
Eventually something else caught Owen's interest...his Mama's old "turtle" (yes, I know it's an elephant! But for some reason I always called it a turtle!)
Soon there was an "unexpected" knock at the door. Who could be knocking on our door on Christmas day?? It was Santa Claus! Oh boy! One look at Santa and both Owen and Emma were in hysterics!
"Not that scary looking guy AGAIN!!"
Santa brought each of the little ones a gift. Owen got his very first dump truck. Although at the time he was too petrified to care!
Poor Santa. Stopping by to spread joy but instead creating panic. At least Mariah was old enough to know that Santa is a good guy. She gave him a bag of goodies for the road and a big hug good-bye.
The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with all the fun toys the kids had gotten. Owen had fun riding his new pony...
"Yee haw!!"
...playing hoops with Auntie Jer...
The next Michael Jordan??
... chillin' with Uncle Jon...
...and goofing around with Uncle James...
Zoe and Eli made themselves at home (they love visiting their Grandma and Grandpa's!) Eli plopped down on the floor...
...and Zoe found the highest spot in the room to perch - the back of Auntie Jer's chair...
We had a wonderful Christmas in North Dakota visiting with friends and family...
Owen even got to meet Mama's oldest friend, Faye. Faye and I go all the way back to kindergarten! Shane handed Owen over to Faye and Owen happily sat on her lap. Owen prefers a pretty lady over Santa any day!
A couple days after Christmas, Owen's Great Grandma Schatz arrived. She had unfortunately ran into some car problems that postponed her trip a couple days. When Grandma Schatz walked in the door, Owen's eyes lit up. He sure loves his Great Grandma. He quickly reached his hands out and clapped them together (one of his signature moves that his Great Grandma taught him when they first met) which translates into "Pick me up!!"
Owen had a wonderful time playing with his cousins Mariah and Emma...
...but soon it was time to go home. So we loaded up the luggage, cats and Owen and made the long drive home. What an amazing Christmas we had this year!
The Christmas season is a time to give thanks to Jesus for all the wonderful things He has done. This year we were blessed with our very own miracle - our son! "God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
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