The Saari Family Christmas, 2011

Christmas was so much fun this year. We were very blessed to have my brother and sister-in-law in town and got to spend a few days with them. We went to Naples in Long Beach & walked around the canals and checked out all the gorgeous light displays on the houses. The church service we went to on Christmas Eve was absolutely perfect & I can't even explain how happy I was to get to spend the whole evening with them!

Christmas Day was pretty wonderful too! We started the day with Santa's presents at our house and Dayne really enjoyed it!

Then, we headed to John's parents to open presents and have breakfast. I think my favorite part was either Dayne ripping off wrapping paper and shouting with excitement, "A Box!! A Box!" hahaha Another favorite was when his great grandparents gave him a music set with drums, a flute, maracas, a bell, a whislte, etc... He passed the instruments out to everyone and we had a little 'Live band jam session'!!! The music was obviously terrible but absolutely hilarious and the smile on his face was priceless!

Next, we headed home to get ready to host our first Christmas dinner in our new home. We had 26 people attending so it was a little bit of a shuffle to find room but it actually turned out perfect! It was so nice to have both sides of the family all together on this special day and not to mention the weather was absolutely gorgeous (75 degrees and sunshine). We had the patio doors open and everyone had such a great time mingling, eating, and opening gifts. We had a fiesta this year instead of a traditional dinner and it was delicious! Tacos, Tamales & Enchiladas... Who's going to complain about that? =)

December Activities!

Wow, what a month it's been! December always seems to pass so quickly and this year was no exception. I LOVE Christmas and the joyful spirit that seems to surround everyone this time of the year. This was our first Christmas as a married couple and our first Christmas in our new home! We had so much fun decorating and putting up Christmas lights!

I absolutely love our neighborhood and how family-friendly it is around here. The first weekend in December   we walked across the street with our neighbors and their twins and went to CandyCane Land. There was a snow hill, bounce houses, a petting zoo, crafts, food, and visits with Santa! 

We also got to see a night-time Christmas Train Show and the following weekend Santa came onto our street and brought candycanes to all the children!

And of course, we did our annual end-of-the-year pictures and they are simply precious!