Christmas (Part 1) Akron and Carriage Ride

 This year we decided to do our own Christmas in Akron the weekend before we left for Indy.  We decided this pretty last minute (like the night before when we were wrapping presents) - so it wasn't as "traditional" as I would have liked (i.e. no christmas jammies, stockings weren't ready, and no presents for Ben or I because they hadn't arrived yet) but it worked well not to take all the presents to Indy (just to bring them back) and it was nice to have a special little family time with just our kids. 

 We aren't totally sure how we feel about the whole Santa thing.  I've read a few good articles about how to incorporate Santa into your Christmas and still keep the focus on Jesus (but also a few articles that say to kick Santa to the curb)... for now, our family decided we would keep some of the magic of Santa, but we didn't go over the top trying to hide who Santa really is.  And we continued to talk about who St. Nicholas is and why he did what he did (his love for Jesus!) Santa brought each of the kids 3-4 presents and then brought them stockings in Indy this year.

 Monday morning we left for Indy and kicked off our Christmas festivities with a carriage ride in downtown Indy and dinner at Ruth's Chris... thanks to Mimi for a great time!