Christmas Countdown

Dec 6th was St. Nicholas Day. All the boys and girls put a boot outside their bedroom door and he came and put presents in it. Abby was THRILLED.

The thrill wore off when she saw how practical St. Nicholas was. I thought this toothbrush (that was electric and came with a pile of stickers so she could decorate it) was fun. Apparently it was just confusing and pathetic. She'll thank me later when she doesn't have a mouth full of cavities.

I also got her some fun butterfly slippers to wear around the house. Ever since I fell down the stairs I've been pretty anal about her wearing either bare feet or socks with tread.

St. Nicholas got Jeremy a biography of Nelson Mandela, which coincidently was something I wanted to read as well. That crafty little man. I love Oliver's super squishy cheeks-o-chub.

We celebrated that night with citrus green beans, roast in a red wine gravy and garlic potatoes puree. Delish!

I can't believe my kids are fighting already!

I love how my ward in Germany goes against the church handbook and totally decorates the chapel for Christmas. It is AWESOME, and totally brings the spirit in more abundance to our meetings. It's a far cry from our chapel in Japan where I couldn't even hang a photo of the Savior on the wall because we didn't want to "ruin" the walls in the YW room. They did let me compromise by bringing a picture to class every week and fixing it to the white board with a magnet. My bishop totally sided with us (because he was seriously fantastic) but we had to share the building and respect the other ward craziness. I am SO happy we don't share a building here and can do whatever we want!