Christmas Traditions....

-
I can hardly believe it but this is our 8th year visiting Santa Clause with the Almodovar family! This has become one of our favorite Christmas traditions! When we started this tradition 8 years ago, there were just two little babies in tow,  Dylan and Hugo. Now, we have 6 kids in total and another on the way! It's a whole lot of fun and very noisy!

Dylan and Hugo right before visiting Santa for the first time!
8 years ago!
Dylan and Hugo today, right before visiting Santa!


Evan and Sergio opening gifts!
Sweet Fiona...the only girl in the bunch (not for long though!)
The whole gang!
Our fellas sitting with Santa. Tyson wasn't too sure about sitting on his lap!

The parents.....I still can't believe we brave this adventure every year!

Today I am grateful for fun Christmas traditions. We look forward to visiting Santa with our friends every Christmas! Its so much fun to go to lunch together and then take the kids to see the Big Guy! I am also thankful for such precious friends! We were friends with Hugo and Amanda in college! We were in  each others weddings, we were pregnant with our first babies at the same time,  and thankfully, we've just stayed close over the years! I would have never guessed when we were all in our early twenties that we'd one day be taking 6 (almost 7) kids to see Santa every year! I'm grateful for friends to enjoy this life with....even when its loud, hectic, and a little crazy!

Comments

Post a Comment

Please take the time to leave an encouraging message

Popular posts from this blog

Please don't give me a wedgie!

-
Image
 Would you believe me if I told you that life with 3 boys is wild??  You probably would, huh? I'm telling you, just an average Wednesday night in the Shaw household is full of all sorts of craziness! I did hear a first tonight though!  Bryan was wrestling with the boys and suddenly Dylan starts yelling "Please don't give me a wedgie!" Now by those words, you would assume that he didn't want a wedgie but the way he was shaking his booty in front of Bryan and laughing, proved that he really did want a wedgie! HA! Then, of course, Evan and Tyson started saying, "Please don't give me a wedgie!" (One in English, one in toddler language) So we had three little boys running around shaking their tail ends and begging for wedgies.  There. Is. Never. A. Dull. Moment. As you can see from this picture above, they got their wedgies! They thought it was hysterical! And I just had to show you the picture below, just to give you an id
Read more

Beauty from Ashes

-
Image
I have heard the term "beauty from ashes" a thousand times in the past week. It wasn't the first time I 've heard the term but I've always just brushed it off. Since I've heard it so much lately, I decided to pay it some attention.  So here we go... The Bible says in Isaiah that God will give us beauty instead of ashes. In Biblical times it was the custom for people in great times of mourning and difficulty to lay down in ashes. Just imagine this...you’ve got a big problem in your life so you just lay down in a pile of dirty ashes. There is absolutely nothing beautiful about this scenario. So where does the beauty come from? Can ashes really be turned into something beautiful?   Scripture says that God is able to take the situation that burdens you or causes you pain and turn it into beauty. He can pick you up out of the ash pile of life and make something beautiful out of you. The Hebrew word for ashes is epher and the Hebrew word for beauty is pheer. Just m
Read more

Psalm 84: 11-12

-
Image
For the  Lord   God is a sun   and shield;      the  Lord  bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold      from those whose walk is blameless.  Lord  Almighty, blessed  is  the one who trusts in you Psalm 84: 11-12 I've been pondering Psalm 84:11-12 for a couple of weeks now. It has become one of my favorite verses. After really digging into this verse on my own and in Bible study this morning, I feel like God speaks volumes through these 38 simple words.  God is a sun and a shield. Like the sun, God provides for us, nourishes us, and is always present. The sun provides hope with each new day, just as God gives hope in even the worst situation. Like a shield, God protects us and gives us security. We can hide behind Him and feel safe. But, a shield does no good just laying near by. It only protects when picked up and used appropriately. The same is true with God. If we don't acknowledge Him, if we don't get to know Him, if we don'
Read more