One last hurrah for 2012!

Happy New Year!!!

The Franklin Insitute

Jeff and I will always have a special place in our hearts for Philadelphia.  So, whenever possible, family day trips are spent there.  Today we had a great time at the Franklin Institute.

And, of course, no day would be complete without a visit to Trader Joe's and a Philly cheesesteak from Abner's in University City.

pop quiz

These pictures were both taken of Joost and Henry on their 2nd Christmas, in the same pajamas, on the same rocking horse.  Can you tell whose who?

(Henry)

(Joost)

I always say I have twins separated by seven years.

The rest of Christmas day

Christmas day was spent with my family. 

We ate dinner together.

We opened gifts together.

(Owen and Henry did actually enjoy Christmas more than it appears.)

We even cleaned the left over turkey with crowns on from our Christmas poppers together.

We continued on to Aunt Dee's house for celebrating with more family--together.  (Well, technically, we did not all travel there together.  Dad has not financed a small family bus for us yet.  But we did all end up in the same place.)

And one picture you can't miss--all the Bosworth cousins in matching pjs together.

Christmas Morning 2012

We enjoy our Christmas mornings.  We all count dear certain traditions as a family that are done every year.  The kids are excited to do each part of the morning and remember it every Christmas--even the food that we annually have at breakfast.  I'm a huge fan of traditions, especially on certain days of the year that need to be remembered.

We start off with the kids sitting at the top of the steps, anxiously waiting until Jeff and I have the downstairs ready....lighting the Christmas tree, turning on Christmas music, grabbing the camera, etc.  It only takes a few minutes, but I'm quite sure the kids feel like it's much longer than that.  We hear shouts of "Now?" from each of their mouths, at least once.

After the agonizingly long wait, the kids come down the stairs while I take pictures.  This year, Henry was still sleeping, but the older three did not want to wait for him to wake up on his own.  He needed a little help down the steps.

Once down the stairs, the gift giving begins.

It's not all tearing into gifts at the same time, however.  The kids take turns, one at a time, going around in a circle until everything is opened.

Henry, who loves his brother's light sabers, swords, etc., received his own (soft) sword.

He was ready to start using it right away.  We should probably consider fencing lessons, that include safety regulations, right away.

Kate's favorite gift was her princess shoes--she's very obsessed these days princesses and all their wonderful attire.

We're all big fans of the Phillies and Gracie enjoyed getting her Phillies t-shirt with hopes of wearing it to a game in June.  Joost, whose room is already overflowing with legos, received an Avenger lego set which counted as his favorite gift of the morning.

After stockings, the kids receive their treats (usually clementines and mints) found in the clogs under the tree--a tradition in Holland that uses clogs rather than hanging stockings on the mantle.

The rest of the morning includes Christmas breakfast that always contains cinnamon buns and grapefruit, and family worship as we read the story of the coming of Christ to earth.

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve

The children are ready to leave for the Christmas Eve service.

As are we.

We look forward to it each year.  We anticipate it because of our church's Christmas Eve liturgy.  Trinity Presbyterian follows a pattern of worship that many other reformed churches conduct at their Christmas Eve services.  It is a traditional English service called, very simply, "Nine Lessons and Carols."  The structure of the service is as simple as the title: nine passages of Scripture are followed by nine carols.  Each lesson follows the same format: a reader (who represents various age groups, societies, or roles within the church) goes to the podium and introduces the Scripture lesson, reads the passage, and concludes by saying, "Thanks be to God." Then the congregation and/or choir sing a carol reflecting on that passage of Scripture.  It is a wonderful evening that allows us to fully focus on Christ's coming to earth as the God-man to redeem His people.

Thanks be to God.

a Christmas Eve treat

It started snowing today.  What a lovely way to begin Christmas.  We felt like we were in some lovely little British, Dickens-ish town on Christmas Eve with lights glowing and snowflakes falling.  Okay, so that was a bit over dramatic, but you get the picture.  It was especially nice for Henry--his first snow that he was able to walk around in and enjoy with his siblings.

Christmas Sunday

I especially enjoyed Christmas Sunday this year.  It was close enough to Christmas Day that it had a particularly festive feel, but it wasn't on Christmas day (like last year) which made things a bit crazy and rushed.  It was nice to sit calmly, without running through the list of Christmas day responsibilities, and to worship our God and Savior who humbled Himself to come as a man, to die as a man and save us from our own eternal death.

Before we left for church, I did take a picture of all of us in our Christmas finest.

(I admit, this may not be our best family picture ever.  Blame it on the invisible man taking the picture.  I always feel like invisible women take such better shots.)

Christmas with the vBs

This year its our year to celebrate Christmas day with the Bosworth side of the family.  So, we're celebrating Christmas a few days early with the van Bastelaars and Sean and Jonelle's home.

The kids love visiting their cousins and Oma in Doylestown.  Sometimes it's best to tell them close to the event so that the count down to cousin time is limited.

Speaking of Oma and cousins, this is the latest picture of all of them together....

The kids enjoyed opening their gifts, too.

(Can you tell that Kate is thrilled with her new Sleeping Beauty princess dress?)

Merry Christmas to all of Jeff's family!  We love you very much.