Our Favorite Tradition

As I write this I am sitting in my living room surrounded by Christmas lights and decorations. I love this time of year because all of the decorations just make my house feel warm and cozy. It also reminds me of the hope we have because of a special birth, the birth of Jesus. A week and a half ago, we were not feeling warm because we were finally having colder weather and it was REALLY cold, at least by Texas standards. The funny thing was that I was actually happy about it because I'm kind of a dork in that way. We spent our Tuesday doing our favorite Christmas tradition, so it always puts me more in the Christmas spirit when the weather actually feels like Christmas and not spring. 

Every year we visit  Northpark Mall to see the Santa there, and also to see the miniature train exhibit. Jeremy grew up not far from the mall, so he loves it because it is the mall he remembers going to as a little boy, so that part is special. But the Santa is also pretty special because there is no doubt that he is the real Santa! 

Here Kailey is about to see Santa.

If you don't believe me, look at the photo below. (That hair is all real!)

Kailey did better this year and didn't scream, but then again when she started to get upset, I just didn't want to force her to sit in Santa's lap. I looked at last year's photos though, and it appears we tortured her last year. Here is the photo from last year. 

Its funny how much she has changed from last year, but the boys don't look quite so different as her in one year. The best part is we were able to get two Christmas' out of these shirts! Woohoo!!

The other thing we absolutely love about Northpark is it just always puts us more in the Christmas spirit. I don't know if its because it is decorated with more trees and holiday lights, or if its just that it doesn't seem to be the wall to wall people that you see in most malls. But whatever it is, it was so nice to be able to stroll along and enjoy ourselves. This was the first year that we were able to go during the day because of homeschooling Jadon, so we definitely had more time at the mall this year. 

The mall also has more unique features, such as the big water fountain seen here. The kids just love playing around this fountain. Of course it is always a challenge keeping Kailey out of the water.

 

There are also Christmas trees around every corner. Here they are posing for Daddy. I absolutely love this photo!!

Here they are posing with Mommy. 

I just love these kids!! I truly am blessed to have them in my life. 

The mall also has different entertainment throughout the mall. The one we see every year is the Scrooged Puppet Show. He picks people in the audience and makes them part of the show, so it makes it pretty entertaining. 

 Kailey and Daddy share some pretzels while they watch the show. 

And of course no trip to Northpark would be complete if we didn't visit the Northpark Train Exhibit. The best part is the money you spend to see the exhibit goes to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. 


All of the kids were truly fascinated watching all of the trains and all the little miniature houses and people. Kailey was pretty much mesmerized by the whole exhibit. She just keep pointed and saying, "Choo Choo...Choo Choo" and when one of the trains would go into a tunnel where she couldn't see it, she would just keep asking where the Choo Choo went until one showed back up again. It was so cute!! 

But the boys also loved the exhibit and they would get excited about some of the little towns and people that were in the exhibit. 

I love this photo below because this is so Reece, so animated and excited about special moments. He really is our little energizer bunny.

Here are more photos of the trains exhibit. 

After our busy day at the mall it was time to go eat and then drive around Highland Park to look at Christmas lights. It was a lot of fun, even though we were all pretty tired by then. Jadon was excited about all of the "Big Mansions" we saw with their extravagent displays. Poor Kailey did fall asleep though about 30 minutes into it. Oh well! 


I hope to make at least one more post this week, but if not, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!