Our family Christmas traditions begin the Friday after Thanksgiving every year as we attend the city of Bloomington's Canopy of Lights Ceremony. This year we began the evening dining, according to tradition, at Cafe Pizzeria. Uncle Nick and our friends, Julie and the Chasteen family, joined us, and we made quite a crowd. Elissa and Emma serenaded the table with their rendition of "Jingle Bells," and Charlotte and Eliot fought over fruit puffs (just kidding).
After dinner we made our way to the square in the bitter cold to wait for the lights. The Bloomington City Band plays Christmas carols, Polka Dot the clown leads us in singing, and Santa rides into town. Santa counts down the crowd: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...swoosh...the entire downtown area is lit up with thousands of lights. A canopy of lights is created by stringing lights from the courthouse to the buildings that create the town square. It truly is a sight! 
After the square was lit, we made our way into Fountain Square Mall to see Santa. Julie went ahead of us to save us a good spot in line because the girls were already pretty tired. Charlotte was not immediately taken with Santa but did stop crying long enough for a picture. The entire mall is decorated with different winter scenes, so we spent a few minutes getting some pics with the woodland creatures and snow.
The next day is the Holiday Farmer's Market, which has also become a part of our family tradition. The girls can see and pet real reindeer, decorate Christmas cookies, and enjoy the world famous Harvey Phillips Tuba Santas. Emma had to take her coat off to dance to the Tuba Santas' music because it was obvious that she couldn't dance properly with her coat on. Charlotte slept through much of the singing but woke to catch a few carols.
Another family tradition is buying and decorating the Christmas tree. This year we have a beautiful scotch pine that we decorated together with ornaments from past and present: some Chris and I collected before the girls joined our family and now a few that Emma has made at school. We put the tree upstairs in our sitting area this year, so the girls enjoyed reading Christmas stories, singing carols, and hearing advent devotionals sitting beneath the tree each night before bed.
This year we attended Candles and Carols at Anderson University. The girls had a great time listening to the beautiful music and dancing in the lobby. I'm sure if Chris gets the job at Anderson, this will become a family tradition to cherish.
On Christmas Eve we each opened one present before attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. It was a lesson in patience for Emma who, of course, did not want to stop with just one present. We almost didn't make it to the service because the Volvo was dead in the driveway when we got ready to leave. Chris was able to push it out into the street so he could get the Honda out of the garage. I steered as he pushed it as far as he could back up the drive. We managed to arrive at church only about 20 minutes late, but I'm so glad we decided to go despite the car fiasco. It is important to remember why we're celebrating Christmas at all--to remind us of our Savior coming to Earth as a little tiny baby. After the service, our friend, David, came over to help Chris push the car the rest of the way into the garage. I guess we'll be battery shopping on the 26th. I wonder if they'll be on sale!
We completed our Christmas Eve traditions with hot cocoa, Twas the Night Before Christmas, and mama and daddy staying up till the wee hours wrapping gifts. Chris put Emma's new princess bike together and completed the arduous task of removing the girls' babies from their packaging so we could place them in strollers. I wrapped most of the gifts until I was worn out and Chris took over. Here's how I wrap: carefully measure how much the package will need, cut it just so, and meticulously tape it closed. Here's how Chris wraps: cut the paper hoping it will be enough for the package, when it appears there is too much paper, fold it up rather than cut it away and tape it down with more tape than would ever be necessary. Okay. So, I'm exaggerating a tad, but it was pretty funny to see him wrestling with paper, tape, and bows. It was also so nice to know that he loves me enough to try and the girls enough to care. After the wrapping was complete, we needed a little Santa magic to get the presents under the tree without waking Emma and spoiling the surprise. Wonder of wonders, the child who has not stayed in her own bed through the entire night in weeks slept through the noise of our setting out the gjfts. She even slept through Charlotte waking up at 7am. She finally scampered to our bed around 7:30am but wasn't interested in checking out the tree even after I assured her it was morning and it was Christmas. She finally decided to get up around 8:30am.
Both girls were excited to see the spread of gifts beneath the tree. Emma got a bike and helmet, a camera, and play food. Charlotte got a shopping basket with food, a laptop, and a phone. Both girls got babies, strollers, tiaras, and tutus. Chris got sweaters, Scene It Seinfeld edition, and a dresser valet. I got a locket, books, sweaters, and a coat. Oh, for my Facebook status I mentioned that all I wanted for Christmas was for Emma to be healthy. Well, after being diagnosed with a double ear infection and getting a shot, our five days of high fevers finally ended, and Emma is feeling healthy again.
So far, it's been a wonderful day. Chris made a delicious lunch of pork tenderloin and roasted vegetables, balsamic asparagus, and salad with chocolate pie for dessert. Yumm!! He cooked AND cleaned the kitchen so I can rest. He's the best husband! Charlotte fell asleep in her high chair, so we're off to nap now and then later we're going to the Lehrs to celebrate with them.
Merry Christmas!
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