Christmas Eve and Day

For today, a blog about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Coming over the next few days: blog posts about the Jones Christmas, a special wedding reception, and a tearful goodbye to a beloved family member.

Mamaw and Papaw Thompson came to Columbus for the long Christmas weekend.  On Christmas Eve we went to our church's Christmas Eve service, followed by our annual Christmas Eve appetizer feast.

Kids & Grandparents in front of our church's nativity scene

The 6 of us at the Christmas Eve service

Our attempt at a kids Christmas Eve pic in front of our tree

On Christmas morning, the kids were very excited to open presents.  It was a fun morning but unfortunately we had to quickly pack and drive to PA on Christmas Day to avoid a snowstorm.  Although it wasn't the relaxing day we had planned, we had a fun and memorable morning.

Eliana loved helping each of us open our presents - here with Daddy

... and here with Papaw

Judah checking out his new Elmo toy

Judah opened a blanket Elizabeth made for him and he immediately laid down on it!

Eliana reading one of her new books

Judah's new basketball hoop

Eliana exploring her stocking

Snowman

We got about an inch of snow last week, and Eliana could not wait to make a snowman.  With just an inch, it had to be a little one:

 

Merry Christmas!

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o'er the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains

Gloria!  In Excelsis Deo!

Merry Christmas!

Red & Green

Eliana in the Christmas dress she wore last week to her preschool's Christmas party:

Christmas Traditions

This is our 3rd Christmas season in Columbus, and this week we went to two area Christmas events for the 3rd time each.  They have developed into fun Christmas traditions for our family.

The first was the Columbus Zoo's Wildlights.  We bundled up and headed out to see the zoo's spectacular light display.

The kids in front of some light displays

Enjoying the carousel: Father and Son ...

... and Mother and Daughter

And as you can tell from this video, Eliana especially enjoyed dancing to the music they played during the light show:

The following night, we went to "Merry and Bright" at Franklin Park Conservatory.  They had many poinsettias, Christmas lights, gingerbread houses, and an exhibit for kids about how Christmas is celebrated in different cultures.

Eliana in front of a poinsettia tree

Judah with Mommy in front of a Christmas display

Happy Birthday Uncle Kevin!

Happy Birthday Uncle Kevin!  Hope it's a special day for you, and we can't wait to see you in 2 weeks!

Christmas Tree

We went to out to the tree farm last weekend to get the 2012 Jones Family Christmas Tree.  It was rather warm for the first day of December, which made it enjoyable to stroll through the field looking for the perfect tree.  Of course, Eliana and Judah enjoyed being a part of the process.

Judah's first choice.  Sorry, Judah, but it wouldn't have fit in our living room.

Eliana on a mission to find the perfect tree.

Mommy and the kids with our tree.
(Judah had just reached his limit)

Eliana "helping" Daddy cut the tree down

The tree post-decoration

Eliana's Birthday

As you can probably imagine, Eliana loved her birthday.  She was giddy from the moment she woke up, and she had fun opening presents, going out for dinner, and having cake and ice cream.  Here are some pictures from her day:

Excited to wear her birthday hat

Quesadilla at a Mexican restaurant for dinner

With her presents

Opening a book from Gramma.  Judah watched most of the proceedings curiously.

A tea set from Mommy & Daddy

Her cake - she specifically requested a strawberry cake with strawberry ice cream

And she enjoyed it!

The next morning, she had a tea party with Mickey, Monkey, and Ladybug

 

Happy Birthday Eliana!

Happy Birthday Eliana Hope Jones!

Somehow, Eliana is 3 years old today.  We are daily amazed by our precious. inquisitive, creative, goofy, tenderhearted daughter.

We are also proud of all she's learned during her not-terrible two's.  She is learning her ABC's - she knows how to spell her name as well as Judah's.  She knows many songs - most recently learning 3 full verses of "If You're Happy And You Know It."  She enjoys going on outings, including being a great helper at the grocery store with Mommy or Daddy.  One of the highlights of her week is when she goes to preschool on Fridays.  She comes home with fun art projects and singing new songs.  She has come to enjoy the holidays and seasons as they arrive - when we told her on Black Friday that the Christmas season was starting she went around telling the whole family "Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Christmas, and Happy Birthday!"  Other things Eliana enjoys are reading, puzzles, watching movies and riding her bike.

We are looking forward to a fun celebration later today (just the 4 of us this year), so look for a post with pictures and a recap of the big birthday in a few days.

We love you Eliana!!

15 Months

Someone in our family is turning 3 years old this week, but first we wanted to recognize that Judah David is 15 months old today!  He visited Dr. O'Brien for a checkup this morning, and he weighed in at 25.4 lbs, and is 32 inches tall.  That puts him in the 65th percentile for weight, and 80th for height.

Judah's newest favorite activity is reading.  He loves to pick out books, bring them to Mommy or Daddy and say "boo!  boo!"  (Translation: "Please read me this book.")  His favorite book?  Any book with pictures of animals. He is still a big eater - his favorite foods at the moment are bananas, cheese and bread.  We are so proud of our big boy!

Christmas Festival

Our family is getting excited for Christmas, and for all the fun events that go on over the next month.  Events that have become traditions for us include a trip to the Christmas tree farm, Franklin Park Conservatory's Christmas event, and the Columbus Zoo's light display.

Last night, we went to a local Christmas Festival, where they had music, s'mores, an ice sculpting demonstration, and sleigh rides.  Santa was also there, and we got our first picture of the kids sitting on his lap.  (Eliana did visit with Santa 2 years ago, but we didn't get a picture.)

Daddy and Eliana roasting marshmallows

Not surprisingly, Eliana loved the s'more!

Notice Judah's curiosity towards Santa

 

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family.  We went to Indiana to spend several days with Mamaw and Papaw.  For Thanksgiving Day we drove up to Indianapolis to have our Thanksgiving feast with Great Grammy, Great Boppa, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Eliana helped with our annual Thanksgiving candy turkeys

Eliana's Finished Product

Eliana with Mamaw and Papaw

Judah's Thanksgiving Feast - he ate a LOT of food :-)

Of course Eliana enjoyed her feast as well

Eliana's post-turkey nap on the couch

The kids with their great grandparents

The whole gang!

Thankful

We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, but at the top of the list are these kiddos: