SANTOS CHRISTMAS 2009

Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again.

In Our Home we have NUMEROUS traditions… One of them is taking the Christmas pictures, that will be our Christmas cards to our families and friends.Check out our many attempts, but we didn't pick any of these lol.

OUR FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHER....
RYAN BOWERS
WE SOOOOO LOVE YOU :)

I started to realize that in fact we have traditions for most of the holidays, but Birthdays and Christmas are without any doubt the TOP time-honored of all celebrations. We Sure live and live it up when Thanksgiving arrive… That is in fact the beginning of Our Christmas…and we always feel so sad when we realize that December 25th is coming to an end.
But from so many traditions that “The SANTOS girls” have, there are a few that stand out more than anything… we each always open one Present the night before Christmas and that present is always a NEW PAJAMA … the reason is that every Christmas we sleep and wake up and open our presents always with a MATCHING pajama. We always look like three little Christmas presents ourselves, considering that we always have a Christmas theme pajama. We never even realize just how a small tradition that we have in our home, became the tradition of so many people, until our friends started to make a point of showing up or Christmas eve or Christmas day just to take pictures and see us in our MATCHING PJ’S.
But Christmas is not the presents and the amount of money that we spend on our family, friends or each other…so what is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. This is OUR way of living such an amazing time of the year.
Just like Charles Dickens once said: “I have always thought of Christmas as a good time; a kind, forgiving, generous, pleasant time; a time when men and women seem to open their hearts freely, and so I say, God bless Christmas!” What a truthful statement to live by…

"At Christmas A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year; He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season's here; Then he's thinking more of others than he's thought the months before, And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for. He is less a selfish
Creature than at any other time; When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime..."

We lived our Christmas the way we love… we cooked, we were kinder, less eager to pick up a small word and make a big deal out of it, we spoke with our family in Portugal and we talked about our savior Jesus Christ, we remembered the love He has for us and we had our own inside jokes… Some of our friends left their homes, just like they do every year after dinner and came to spend time with us, and when I asked why, because Christmas is a time to be together with our families, the answer brought tears to my eyes “Because in this house we feel the warmth and the love that a family should have and with you guys we learn how to live this day to its fullest, we live traditions and we play risk and we learn Portuguese traditions and Portuguese words. I looked at my two girls and them too were deeply moved and touched.
Enjoy some of our pictures… of our Matching Pajamas….











OPENING SOME PRESENTS <3





THIS YEAR WE WERE LITTLE GREEN ELVES WITH SNOW FLAKES :)






We also We cook a LOT… Enjoy some pictures of our time spent in the kitchen...Sara is indeed the artist of our family...and making Gingerbread Homes is one of her many traits :)






Brad was giving all the support trying to eat all the decorations...

Mission accomplished little Sara, Yeahhhhh :)

And YES, we had a WHITE CHRISTMAS


ENDING OUR CHRISTMAS HAVING A BLAST WITH RON AND BRAD :)OH AND MIKE HASS SURPRISED JESSICA SHOWING UP HERE WITH A HUGE VASE OF FLOWERS AND THE MOST CUTE CARD. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT OUR JESSICA GOT FLOWERS...IT WAS SO CUTE <3>