New Traditions and Father Frost

What an exciting time of year to be new parents! After a few years of not really being in the Christmas spirit, Ken and I are having a blast introducing Angelina to the holiday season.

Our family had a great day yesterday. We set out to cut our Christmas tree. Angelina loved riding around in the sled and trying to steal the saw from her Papa. Really, she could have cared less that we were trying to find a tree, nor did she offer her opinion! haha When she woke up from her nap, she walked downstairs to find a tree in our family room with sparkling colored lights. Her face lit up and her smile was priceless, truly a picture perfect snap shot of what Holiday Spirit is all about. She thought it was cool that she got to put ornaments on the tree, but really loved playing with the beaded garland and grandpa the best. After the tree was decorated, we sat down to a great turkey dinner. We were fortunate to have both sets of Angelina's grandparents join us for some part of the day yesterday. Angelina got some very cute new ornaments to add to our tree.

Here are some pictures of tree cutting:

And some pictures of trim-a-tree:

One of the main reasons we chose to adopt a child from Russia is because we have a dear friend who is Russian. We knew that our friend would be a great source for us with regards to culture, traditions, history, and so on. While speaking with her the other day, she introduced me to the idea of Father Frost. Father Frost is the Russian Santa-like figure. He comes around on New Year and leaves presents under a New Year tree for small children. I was excited to hear about Father Frost as I think this would be another wonderful tradition that we will be able to start with Angelina. I know that some of you who have also just brought home your children from Russia may also enjoy this tradition. A link with more info about Father Frost and his differences to Santa can be found here.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season!