The Noriega Family

We did lots of Christmas Eve feasting this year!  We spent the 23rd as our cooking day.  The girls love to sign up for different dishes to help cook.  They are getting more helpful in the kitchen.  We had four pies! Plus jello and orange rolls; so we consumed lots of sugar.  

The girls love our little Christmas Eve party that we do every year.  It was quieter this year, we did not have another family over.  We had Jodee, and Krystale came for about an hour of fun.  It was nice having it a little quieter.  We played some great games; the ball unraveling is always their favorite.  We had fun with making antlers and a team competition to see who can dress for winter the fastest.  Sienna's team won and she was feeling pretty hot about her victory.    

It was so nice to be together as a family.  I loved that Church was included with our Christmas Eve.  We had fun laughing and anticipating together.  The girls went to bed and shockingly went right to sleep.  Us adults stayed up watching cheesy Christmas movies.  Natalia came into my room at 12:30am to tell me that she just could not go back to sleep because she was so excited.  I told her she better try.  Haha, and then they slept in until 7:00.  I woke up at 5:30 because I was excited and I could not go back to sleep.  I am as bad as the kids.  I am just excited for different reasons.  

Jodee came to visit for Christmas again this year.  We love having Jodee come; I think Estelle asked every morning if Jodee was coming yet.  We picked her up from the airport a few days before Christmas and headed straight to the Botanical Gardens.  We love to go at Christmas time and see the train display.  It was really fun.  And we ran into some friends at the Gardens that we had seen the day before Ice Skating.  It is funny what a small world it is sometimes; even when surrounded by millions of people.  

We had lots of fun this Christmas watching the shenanigans that our scout elf, Krystale (Estelle calls her Elfie), got into.  One night she dressed up as a Superhero and zip lined across the room.  

We did lots of game playing.  Natalia made Estelle a Masha and Bear outfit.  

The girls got to spend the night at Aunt Krystale's house and Hector, Jodee and I went out.  We had dinner and then went to see the play, Annie.  It was so good and so much fun with two of my favorite people.  The girls had a blast at their sleepover.  

We did lots of cooking and eating.  It was fun that they girls were off from school while Jodee was here.  We played LOTS of games and had a great time enjoying the Christmas Magic.  

We got to go to Church on the morning of Christmas Eve.  I had put a gift under the tree for them to open Christmas Eve.  They were pretty excited about this since we do not normally open anything on Christmas Eve.  They all got something new for church...so we had to take pictures.  

After all our Christmas Festivities, we had more time to have fun with Jodee.  Things slowed down a little and we had time to just hang out and eat leftovers.  Jodee and I went to the Temple one day.  We watched movies and played a thousand games with the girls.  Hector got in a hunting day and everyone did lots of Legos.  The girls got Uno gift cards from the Elf, so they treated us to dinner one night.  We also got in a little bowling; Jodee killed us.  We love having Jodee come; it was lots of fun.  It makes our Christmas more special having someone we love at our house to celebrate with.  

We love the month of December in our house.  It is filled with magic.  Grandma came to visit again this year.  We love having her come and share in our December countdown.  We have a fun activity every day leading up to Christmas.  I was so busy in the beginning of December with Young Women's and planning relief society activities, plus the final presentation for my class and the girls activities, I felt that I was constantly leaving my mom at the house, but we were sure glad that she was here to celebrate with us.  

We did the Bull Run light drive; it was beautiful.  The church Christmas party actually had good fun and another visit with Santa.  Sienna left the party early to go to Girl Scouts, so only Natalia and Estelle visited with Santa this time.  Estelle told Santa that she wanted Gum and Candy Canes...I think she will be happy Christmas Morning.  

We also did the Bethlehem Walk again; this is another of our favorite December Traditions.  

Somehow I found time to make a Christmas/Winter Wonderland themed cake

Estelle had a party at Preschool and Hector and I had our Christmas Party at our house.  Both were tons of fun.  

The girls were so excited to make Gingerbread houses.  They take up so much space that I make them wait until after our Christmas party.  Then I do not mind them sitting on the counter for a few days while the candy slowing disappears from their creations.  

Other fun activities included going to see the Nutcracker with the girls.  They are obsessed with the Nutcracker and have been dying to see it on stage.  I could not bring myself to purchase 6 tickets to the professional ballet, but I found some really cheap community theater tickets.  It was community theater and not great, but a good chance to take all the girls.  

My mom and I went and saw, An American in Paris a the Kennedy Center.  It was fun, but not the best theater trip we have ever had.  We have seen some great shows in the past, it is hard to hit it out of the park every year.  

We did even more fun Christmas activities after Grandma left.  I love that my kids still enjoy Christmas Coloring, snowflake making and Christmas puzzles as fun activities.  It is nice to have a mix activities we can do around the house...in our pajamas if we wanted and out in the community experiences too.