Our First Canadian Christmas

We've LOVED having a long break from school. Adam was weirded out the last day of finals because he came home and didn't have to study. He didn't know what to do. I passed Ryan over to him right away, as I'd had a week and a half of 24-7 Ryan duty.

We did a few fun Christmas activities while waiting for Christmas. First we made Ryan a clay ornament of his hand print. He was very patient while we pressed his little hand into the very hard clay!!

Next we made a gingerbread house. We felt extremely artsy.

Two days before Christmas we made sugar cookies (Adam's family tradition--one that I'm not sure I have the energy to keep up!). We put our own spin on the tradition by making cookie teeth and toothbrushes instead of all the usual Christmas shapes. We spent forever on them (hence we might not ever see these cookies again). I put toothpaste (with blue sprinkles) on all the toothbrush bristles and Adam put cavities (yellow sprinkles) in the crevices of the teeth. We gave the cookies to all the dental students who were here for the holidays.

We've decided to start one new tradition as a new little family. We slept next to the Christmas tree the day before Christmas Eve. We were going to do it on Christmas day but decided that the excitement of the tree wouldn't be so great after presents were already unwrapped. Adam might be regretting our decision to do this, as he slept right next to the tree and got a headache from the lights.

Christmas Morning

We had a great Christmas here in Halifax. We had a fun dinner with the other Utah dental families on Christmas Eve and then went home and read the Christmas story from Luke. On Christmas morning we sat by the tree and opened our presents. We gave Ryan a cloth book that Sarah made and Santa gave him baby powder and vitamin D in his stocking. Ryan made a haul from the grandparents--a play yard (given to him--gratefully!!--2 months early) from G + G Thompson, and a glow worm, book, and bee rattle from G + G Hatch. Grandma Hatch also gave the maybe-dental-student-to-be a bendable banana toothbrush. Aunt Tina & Madeline sent him some fun books and clothes. We just relaxed and bummed around all day eating leftovers. It was nice to be together as a little family. Later in the day we sang Christmas hymns and talked to our families on Skype. Ryan got so excited and spastic talking to his cousins that I about went crazy. What am I in for when he's a toddler??