New Year's weekend

On New Years weekend we traveled to Dallas and were able to also do our Christmas festivities there as well.  We all had dinner at a new restaurant in Frisco and then went back to Mom and Dad's for the kids to open presents.  They had a blast!  Joshua loved watching Christian open his presents too.

The next day we met Julie and Christian at the mall and walked around and had lunch in the Food Court.  Willow Bend is definitely not as crowded and more of a relaxed mall.  We went home after that and watched the Razorback game.  Julie, Christian and Subin came in the evening and had dinner with us.  Sunil wasn't feeling well.

Here are some pics from that weekend:

Christmas

This year for the first time since I've been working I was able to take off Christmas Eve and Christmas giving me a 4 day weekend.   It was great being able to spend the day with Steve and the boys and go to church without rushing out of work.  We made Christmas cookies for Santa and maybe a few for us and the boys sprinkled reindeer food in the front yard (another tradition)

The boys woke up on Christmas morning and we had a nice breakfast and Steve read the Bible for the boys.  We've always tried to make sure the boys understand the true meaning of Christmas - that Jesus Christ was born on Christmas and he is our Savior.    The presents, Christmas tree, decorations, and lights are just a fun way to celebrate but have nothing to do with Christ's birth.  We also sing happy birthday to Jesus after we pray and read the Bible.  I think that helps the boys understand a little more too.

Of course after we opened presents at our house we went to Mom and Dad's for another round.  Way too many presents for the boys this year.

                                                              Throwing reindeer food

The weeks before Christmas

The weeks before Christmas were filled with lots of fun activities.  The day after we got back from the cruise we met some friends at Jester King Brewery in south Austin.  On Sunday we took a hayride in the neighborhood and the kids took a pic with Santa.

I took a picture of Joshua next to a banner in his school of all the languages represented in kinder.  His pic is under Malayalam.  He was very proud of that.

Steve and I went to an ugly Christmas sweater party and then the next day the boys were able to go to a basketball game.  The next day we visited with Santa on a firetruck in our neighborhood and then later that night went to Steve's Christmas party at the Renaissance Hotel.

A couple of days before Christmas we visited a neighborhood in Cedar Park with lots of Christmas lights ( a tradition)