Meet the Hintons: Christmas 2011

We had a whirlwind of activity over the Christmas weekend which started with an overnight at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Thursday. We enjoyed breakfast on Christmas Eve there & spent time with the family opening gifts, eating, talking & watch the kids run around excited by their new toys. One of the best scenes to watch was a couple of the boys (which usually included Zeke) playing light saber fights.

We headed out for Christmas Eve Service at church then home for a quiet immediate family night. Christmas Day brought a few surprises for the kids along with a nasty cold for poor Zeke. The kids really enjoyed getting the various items in their stockings. We took a fairly minimalist approach to gifts this year to really focus on the reason for the season- Jesus. All during the month of December we did a nightly Advent calendar door opening along with telling some element of the Christmas Story. I think this will continue to be our tradition as the kids really look forward to seeing what was in their door (sometimes small items like stickers or a piece of candy & others a clue for something bigger they had to find).

On Christmas Day we hosted my family & it was great to have all of my brothers come along with my mom. We had a day in our jammies for most of Monday to let everyone recoup. All in all it was a great holiday & Zeke is starting to feel a little better. Here is a flashback to last year on Christmas Day (yes, Maddy still fits the same jammies). The rest of the photos are from this year.

Christmas 2010, one day off the long trip home from China

Zeke & his cousin Creed

The older cousins attempted to let the littles sleep in Grandma's living room (failure- they both ended up in the guest bedroom w/mom & dad)