Christmas 2010

I see that it's been 6 months since I last blogged. I've been having issues with this blogger website, but thanks to my sister-in-law, Rachel, I figured out that I had to get rid of my original background and stick to the backgrounds that blogger offers. Okay, so enough with the technical stuff...

So, Christmas has come and gone once again. Last year, we were in Australia, celebrating the Christmas season on the beach. This year, we were blessed with a gorgeous white Christmas!

Some of our Christmas traditions include:
- going downtown Chicago to Macy's to see the store front windows. This year, we went the Monday before Christmas. We drove to the South Loop and parked there. We then caught the EL, much to Joshua's delight, to Lake and State. And we walked around the historic Marshall Field's (now Macy's) building, and looked at the windows. We then went inside Macy's to look at the big Christmas tree in the Walnut Room. One day, we hope to be able to go there for lunch or something. I don't think I have the energy to do that with a preschooler and toddler this time! So, instead of lunch in the Walnut Room, we had lunch at the food court. Joshua got to pick some candy from the candy store after lunch too. Then, we headed back to the car and drove home.

- Christmas Eve: we started a new tradition where we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. We went to the Penang Restaurant in Arlington Heights on Algonquin Road. It was actually quite pleasant (we don't normally take the kids out to a restaurant these days because they just get too out of control!). We had planned to go see some Christmas lights, but the weather report was calling for a winter snow storm. So, we stayed home and had a family movie night. In keeping with tradition, the kids opened one present - usually it's their Christmas pajamas! This year, Joshua got Star Wars pjs, and Jenna got Elmo ones...very appropriate!

- Christmas Day: we always start our day by reading the Christmas story in Luke, followed by opening presents. This year, we got Joshua some Star Wars toys and a Leapfrog Leapster. Jenna's gifts were mostly Elmo-related, as well as a Leapfrog learning toy. We chose to give our kids only 3 gifts each. We believe this will help in teaching them that there is no need for overindulgence. Besides, Baby Jesus only received 3 gifts. So, should they!

Jared made us a pancake breakfast afterwards. And then, we all got ready to go to New Lennox for Christmas with the extended family. We spent the rest of the day there.

What will be my favorite and most significant memory of this Christmas is when Joshua told us that he loves Jesus, and that Jesus is in his heart!

I don't know if he knows what that means, and while Jared and I have always said that we're not going to push him into making any decisions, and that we'd prefer if he came to his decision on his own. Joshua truly blessed us with his affirmation of love for Jesus! We pray that he will truly know what it means to follow Christ, and to make Him his own personal Lord and Savior! Will keep you updated!

Merry Christmas!