Christmas 2014

This year, Christmas snuck up on me. It barely felt like the holidays because we had been traveling and next thing I know, it was already December and I didn't have my Christmas cards made yet! 

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas went by so quickly because there were so many holiday events going on and not enough time. We ended up going to a lot of things and it was fun to see how Koala was now old enough to participate and enjoy the events.

There was of course our annual trip to see the zoo lights. I love that we have such a great zoo right here- it was voted the best zoo in the US in USA Today. And the lights are always pretty to go see in the winter. 

The best thing about the zoo membership is that you get unlimited entrance to the zoo lights Mon- Thurs and one admittance on the weekend. This is great because we can go without having to feel like we have to spend all evening there to make it worth it. This year, we ended up going twice and the weather was nice both times! 

Koala enjoyed the pretty lights and was such a ham- she would stop and pose in front of statues or lights and wait for me to take a picture. 

The Botanical Garden also had their annual weekend holiday event. They mostly have local artists/vendors selling their work but Santa comes to visit and they offer free carriage/hay rides. Koala loved the horses and had a blast riding on the hay ride! Luckily there weren't many people there so she was able to ride it a couple times. 

One of the local churches had A Night in Bethlehem where they have live scenes from the Bible, real animals and a Bethlehem 'marketplace' with crafts for the kids. 

Koala seemed to like petting the animals- camels, donkeys, goats and sheep. I was also surprised at how she was excited to participate in making the crafts as well. One tent was where they made a wreath to wear. I thought it would be too hard so I didn't go in but Koala really wanted to do it and went in on her own. She did such a good job making the wreath. The part she did turned out a lot prettier than the part I did. 

Santa came to visit a local suburb and there were more free carriage rides so we went to check it out. Koala was more impressed with the horses and a balloon than Santa lol

Unfortunately, free means long lines. The line for the carriage ride was too long and it was too cold. But since I promised Koala a horse ride (always keep your promises to kids. They'll remember when you don't), we drove to a mall and rode in the carriage ride there. She had a blast- hot chocolate while we waited and pretty lights on the carriage ride. 

Of course, Christmas isn't about Santa and horse rides. Koala participated in the children's play at church. 

Even though she didn't practice, she enjoyed being on stage and she seemed to follow the cues like when the shepherds talked about the sheep wandering off, she wandered off lol. She also was very interested in Baby Jesus and was gentle and even gave him a kiss. 

I was in charge of desserts for our Christmas lunch at church so I did a little baking- Reese's pieces cupcakes (chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter filling), thin mint truffles and a red and green velvet cake with buttercream frosting and crushed candy canes on top. 

Although the desserts did not come out as pretty as I wanted, they were more tasty than I expected- people kept saying how good they were. I guess ugly good tasting desserts are better than pretty bad tasting desserts lol. One day I'll perfect both and have pretty, yummy desserts. 

This year, I wrapped family presents in reusable Christmas bags again (which I apparently tied too tightly which made it hard to open lol. Oops). I like how easy they are to 'wrap' presents and they look good. Plus I love that they are reusable and better for the environment than wrapping paper. 

For Christmas, Koala decorated her first gingerbread house which was part of our second annual gingerbread house competition. Once again I didn't think she'd enjoy it as much as she did. She was really into decorating and using the sprinkles. Every now and then she snuck a bite of the toppings lol. 

Koala's gingerbread house. She had a little help from mommy and daddy. 

The finished houses. 

I love the holidays and all the fun activities so I'm a little sad that the holidays are over. Only 356 more days until Christmas 2015!