Children are the Magic of Christmas

My mom had a trinket box on her kitchen counter, and on the lid was written ~Children are the Magic of Christmas.~  It was not only out at Christmastime, but all year long.  I just got back from my trip visiting with my family, and after being with the little ones all week, these words really hit home for me.

This will be a long post with many pictures, so I hope it's not too long winded.  I always have to plan my Christmas trip around the weather here - it's supposed to rain all this week, and snow is in the forecast soon.  The first part of my trip was spent at Jess' house.  This was a pumpkin muffin with cream filling I bought while waiting for my flight to board.

  We see many sunsets throughout our days, but it's rare that I see one on a plane looking out the window.

As we were getting ready to land, it looked like beautiful Christmas lights.

As you know, I do not like traveling.  Don't like anything about it, but all the discomfort disappears when I see this little face.

Francesca writing a letter to Santa. 🎅

Jess' Christmas decorations are a little of the old and new, and she had a lot of greenery draping over hutches and bookshelves and the stairway this year.

She made a little storybook space for the kids to read their Christmas books.

I thought these were the cutest stockings she found this year.

Her porch area is always so festive with pops of red for the season.

We watched a lot of kids' Christmas movies,

and one night me and Jess watched Champagne Problems, which all of my family loves.  Jess poured us a glass of champagne, and served a piece of Marzipan Stollen before the show.

This is our favorite shopping center.  It's so lively and festive, and they had the most beautiful grand tree.

  We stopped at Barnes and Noble, and I bought some Nutcracker tea for Nel.  This is her favorite tea brand.

Brian bought us two different kinds of quiche to share while resting at the coffee shop.

It's time to visit Santa now, and the kids are so excited!  You have to make an appointment, which is very different than when my kids grew up and could just climb on Santa's lap at any time.

Love Charlotte's Frozen boots.

We're next, and it's almost time to see the jolly man.

It was pure joy watching the kids decorate the tree and putting a few ornaments on myself.

Jess' ornaments are very unique, and this year she had the prettiest rose gold ribbon around her tree.

Papa's home, and he always stops to give the kids hugs before doing anything else.

A stack of Jess' holiday baking books.

There were lots of laughs, and it seems that I always have those laugh attacks when I'm with the kids.

Francesca will receive her Holy Communion in a year or so, so it was so special for me one night to be able to attend one of her classes.  They had stations for the children to work on craft projects.  And we even got to see and smell the gifts that were given to Jesus on that very Holy night.......Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.  I've always wondered what Myrrh smelled like.

Back at home, I wrapped the kids' presents from grandma and uncle b.

  One night we went to a French Cafe, which had a Christmas tree and a fireplace scene.  Haven't got the pics yet from Jess, but it was so pretty, and we enjoyed visiting with coffee and pastries and just talking.

I had a wonderful time with my family, and I watched Charlotte for a couple days.  This face is etched in my heart.

I thought it was sweet of Jess to want me to be in one of their family Santa pictures.

And this one was my favorite because Santa knows all our secrets.  ; )

I'll show you my time at Nel's house next.  She had a lot of fun things planned for me too.