Christmas Time Is Near

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

Christmas is literally right around the corner and we've definitely had lots of opportunities to get into the Christmas spirit. 

Let's go back to Wednesday, when we had the Sunday School Christmas performance. The rehearsal in the chapel went awesome. All the kids stood in their spot, did the motions and sang what they could. 

 I even snapped a picture where you both look adorable and are not fighting with each other.

 But then when it was time for the actual performance, Hannah actually did pretty good. You stood there, with your cute pig tails and you basically turned your back to the audience and looked at the screen behind you. Ok, no problem. You are 2. But Nathan, as you can see, you are in the back, and the crazy dancing turned into a game of cat and mouse all over the stage. You threw a tantrum when we asked you to stop running around and later you even told me that you punched the person who asked you to stop. I was mortified to hear this. I'm glad it didn't take much explaining for you to understand what you did was not good, in fact, you were so embarrassed that you told me that you don't want to go to church again. Quickly I told you that everyone forgives you and as long as you learned from this performance and don't do it again, everyone will not think of you as a boy who doesn't follow directions.

 On Thursday, we received new track for the train! You were so happy you did a happy dance after we set it all up.

 The weather suddenly turned from a high of 78 degrees to a high of 43 overnight. Crazy weather we have in Texas. So, we have spent a lot of time indoors. Luckily I have a few craft kits hidden around just for this purpose. You did a great job and created 4 "stained glass" ornaments.

 On Sunday, our church held its annual Christmas around the world and our family represented Taiwan. To prepare for the event, we cooked 10 dozen hard boiled eggs, cracked them and soaked them in a 5 spice soy and tea sauce. I'm glad I had a lot of help with cracking over 100 eggs.

On Friday, we met up with a few friends and went to the Wimberly trail of lights. We arrived early and got to ride the train without having to wait in line. 

 You told Santa what you wanted for Christmas, and while Hannah, meeting Santa souned pretty great in the car, but when the man in the red hat was in front of you, you shied away.

 I absolutely love the lights in Wimberly. Lots of things for kids to do. You guys got to write letters to Santa

 And we even got to take our annual in the world picture.

 There was a tap dancing demo where people could join up on stage to dance. Nathan, you were super excited to go up there to dance. Kid, you need to be in show biz or something.

 Afterwards, we got to roast some marshmallows to make smores.

 And Hannah got to take pictures with Elsa and Cinderella. Again, one of those things where the idea sounded great, but when it was time to actually take the picture, Hannah, you would just freak out and refuse.

 Before we knew it, 2 hours had passed by and we didn't even get to visit all of the exhibits! There's just a lot to do and see. We all had a great time.

 On Sunday, we had Christmas around the world at church. Nathan did a great job helping with the stamping of the passports. There was "Texas snow" for the kids to play in and food samples from 14 countries represented. It was a fun event. I'm glad we could've been part of it.

On Monday, you guys got to perform in the pre-school Christmas program. Hannah's class sang "Ring ring ring the bells."

 And you all were so cute!

 Nathan's class sang "Go tell it on the mountain." You guys did an especially great job with singing nice and loud.

 Today, we had planned on going to a trampoline house, but there were a lot of big kids there, so we decided to go bowling instead. It was both of yours' first time at the bowling alley, but thanks to the video games at Daddy's work, you two knew just what to do.

We actually met up with another family with kids around your ages and the 5 of you guys were a handful to keep track of. Balls, other families bowling, and small steps were all hazards that we constantly had to keep up with. But overall, you all played very well together.

Tonight, Santa is coming so we will be enjoying "Christmas morning" at our house for the first time. I've sometimes wished that we could just spend Christmas at home, but I also value the time spent with family. This way, we can have the best of both worlds!

We have 5 more days until Christmas. It's actually been really nice to complete the advent calendar with you gusy. Nathan, you truly look forward to the little story and message that comes with the hanging of an ornament, and Hannah, you just want to put all the ornaments up.

We are going to be having lots of fun this upcoming week! Looking forward to spending some quality time with family! 

Until next week! 

Love, 

Mommy