Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Traditions

We usually go to Santa'sTree Farm in Half Moon Bay to cut down our own tree, but this year we were in a hurry to get my parents to the airport after a wonderful Thanksgiving visit and we didn't see anything that we loved, so we had fun running around in the mud, then left treeless. We went to Home Depot the next day and found a great tree, already cut, for half the price. I am thinking we found a new tradition...go to the tree farm for the experience but plan on buying one pre-cut.
We go to the the Oakland Temple on Christmas Eve and see the beautiful lights. We watch the Nativity movie and walk around the visitor's center, then we head home for dinner. We usually have Cornish Game hens on Christmas Eve and just have left over on Christmas Day so I don't have to spend all day in the kitchen, making food the kids don't like and Dave doesn't want to clean up...but this year, since we were in the city and I wasn't home to cook, we had our New Year's Eve tradition of fondue early (so I guess I'll be cooking Cornish Game hens at Tahoe for New Year's Eve!) I did a three course fondue dinner (cheese, buillion, and chocolate). Yum!
I love having everyone open the presents from the kids on Christmas Eve so they don't get lost in the Santa shuffle the next morning. The kids are always so thoughtful. Then, we read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey, one of the best Christmas stories ever, and we take turns reading from Luke 2 in the Bible, just to make sure we all remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. I tucked the kids in bed, then began a long night of thinking, "why didn't I do this earlier" and finally went to sleep at 3:00am. What a wonderful day.
Posted by Picasa

3 comments:

HMichaelsen said...

I love Jonathan Toomey! I like your tradition of having the presents from the kids opened on Christmas eve!

Genuinely Garff said...

The Christmas Miracle is one of our favorites!! Dayna - your family has so many wonderful traditions. I love reading about all you do. Catching up on my own blog - slowly, but surely. xoxo

jhoopes said...

I miss, miss, miss those Oakland temple lights. Fun to hear about the Bain Christmas traditions!! Happy new year, too!