Christmas, Blessing Day, and People to Love

Christmas Eve was a big day! Since having Logan, we would only plan to go out once, if at all, each day. We went out of our comfort zone, and filled the day with people we love. It was such a memorable, special Christmas Eve.

We headed to church as a family of three with 48 cookies in hand. Some ladies in the ward wanted to do a cookie exchange and I decided to join in. Yummy ginger molasses cookies. This was also the first time I actually did my make up since March probably. :')

We had a special Christmas Eve program put together for sacrament meeting and Logan got to be a part of it too. <3

I played Christmas hymns on the organ, Justin shared a testimony about the hymn "Jesus Once of Humble Birth", and Logan received his name and blessing from his dad.

Before going to church each week, I feed Logan so he'll fall asleep in the car and through church. People have asked if he's really in his carseat because they've never seen him - he's always sleeping! So Christmas Eve was the day the world saw him ;)

Logan Kimball Bean. I listened to Justin bless Logan from the organ bench. It was a tender blessing with our bishopric in the circle with Justin. Our ward really is our German family!

Being the new sleep-deprived parents that we were, a nice, quiet Christmas Eve to ourselves sounded ideal. But we knew on the inside if that's what we did we would regret it. All of my Christmas Eve's have been filled with people that I love.
So, we invited people that we love to our home and had the best time <3. We visited, played a get-to-know-you game courtesy of Justin, and watched the Christ Child video with a small testimony meeting after. It was so special. Many remarked how grateful we were for the Church providing the opportunity to have these relationships. I know I will never forget that Christmas Eve.

Claudia, Timna, Tabbi, Tawana, Limhi, Alex, Alex, Leonardo, Alice, Walli.

After everyone left, we put Logan to bed and sat on the couch with only our Christmas tree lit. <3 We reflected on all that we had experienced and felt on that Christmas Eve. Watching the Christ child was different as my own baby laid in his crib just down the hallway.

How grateful I am to a Heavenly Father who would willingly let His perfect Son come down to Earth and sacrifice Himself for us. I could never imagine having to do that as a parent. But He did, for us.

Christmas Day came and it was one of my favorite days we've had here. Tried out a new overnight french toast casserole recipe. (Good thing we remembered the night before, minutes before getting into bed haha.)

Logan opened all of his gifts from family and church friends. He wasn't old enough at the time to enjoy any of them but now he loooves looking at books and grabbing his o-ball!

We ate good food, watched Jingle All the Way, FaceTimed family, and headed to a Christmas concert in an old cathedral. The concert was an Italian acapella group singing in German. Needless to say, we didn't understand much but their voices were beautiful!

Before walking into the concert, we realized we were right next to one of Berlin's largest Christmas markets! We walked the market and got some pretty candle bulbs to remember the night. <3

It was a merry Christmas and we felt like the luckiest people in the world to spend it with this little guy.

Feeling Like Christmas

This Christmas was different than any previous one I've had. This was our first Christmas as a family of three, living in a new country, not spending it with our immediate/extended families.

At the beginning of the month, Justin and I talked about how we could make it "feel like Christmas" this year. With a busy basketball schedule, we had limited days/hours to be together as a family. We brainstormed what Christmas activities we wanted to do & how we could focus more on Jesus Christ.

This is what we came up with :)

Naturally, we introduced Logan to the new animated Grinch movie! He's not a newborn anymore. He won't just sleep or lie still on the ground or be held in any position. He's so aware and likes to be entertained haha. He did surprisingly well at staying in one spot and watching the movie while I got our ward Christmas gifts ready and Justin finished his Stats class!

Justin and I decided to get each other one small gift for Christmas this year. We didn't feel the need to buy lots of gifts and I liked keeping it simple in that aspect. We focused more on other things that we wanted to do together.

Instead of wrapped presents under the tree, we kept our Costco treats there that Mom and Dad brought us!

By Christmas, the tree ended up with many generous gifts for Logan beneath it from kind, good people. Justin joked that we didn't need a star on top of the tree since Logan is our star. He's not wrong!

The Fresh Balsam scent is Christmas to me!!! I haven't found any candles here that compare to Bath and Body so you can imagine how happy I was when my parents pulled this bad boy out of their suitcase. :') Also deodorant, because German deodorant doesn't leave you feeling quite as fresh and good smelling. Ha!

We felt lots of gratitude as Justin would come home from each basketball game with a new present for Logan. He's an Alba baby! Justin's team staff gifted this albatross and a cute Alba outfit to Logan. A sweet older couple knitted the "Alba socks" on the right for him. He sure is one loved little boy!

Christmas jammies and cuddles with Dad make it feel like Christmas!

On December 13, Logan turned one month old and we got to go to the pediatrician! One of the biggest adjustments to moving to Berlin is getting around to go anywhere. There are no parking lots... Unless it's to Kaufland or church. I found a street spot near the pediatrician, maneuvered Logan's stroller up some steps and through the narrow doorway, left his stroller at the base of the stairs and climbed a couple of flights with that heavy boy in his carseat since the older building didn't have an elevator!

I've learned to give myself at least 15 minutes when going to a new place because chances are, there might be a few obstacles in getting where I need to go.

Never have I ever thanked Heavenly Father for technology like I have in these last four months. I'm so grateful that I can connect to anyone, no matter where they are in the world! It truly is amazing. Dad was giving a talk in sacrament meeting and we got to watch the broadcast through YouTube. <3

This baby started to smile. A lot!! Little milestones like these are so fun as he gets more interactive, but I'm sad he's not our tiny baby anymore. Even though he wasn't super tiny to begin with. :)

A friend from our ward gave me this snowsuit at my baby shower back in October. Logan loves it. It keeps him so warm and makes him sleepy whenever we go out in his stroller. If I ever need him to take a nap, I can count on a walk or car ride to help him fall asleep.

I love living in a big city (for now)! There is so much to do no matter the time of year. Plus, all of the buildings/architecture are beautiful.

Multiple people told us about the German and European Christmas markets. I didn't know if I would feel recovered quite enough to go. One morning I was feeling good and Justin had the day off so we did it. It felt amazing to be outside in the fresh air and I was so happy to be out with Justin.

Logan slept the whole time while we browsed the market. It was our first one and the smells, sounds, and sights felt like Christmas. There was bratwurst everywhere, endless booths, lights, and Christmas music. This was one of my favorite mornings.

I can't believe we live here! This is only 8 minutes from our apartment. I think one day after we've moved back to the States it will feel like a dream. I want to be better at taking advantage of living here and experiencing more now that I'm feeling back to myself.

We bought this nativity piece from the market and as we were checking out the cashier told us it was made from cherry wood. Meant to be!

More Bean & Logan fans. This cute family lives in Berlin and are members of the Church. They attend a German ward but have gotten to know Justin well as they've been to several of his basketball games. They came over for a visit and gave Logan a stuffed bear. Bears are a big deal in Berlin. They're the city mascot.

These boys told us that it's tradition in Germany to get a Steiff bear when you're a baby. Each teddy bear has a name on the packaging. Logan's bear is named Jimmy. They're such a cute, good family and we're so grateful for Church connections that help us to feel more at home.

And of course you have to get a picture with the neighbor across the hall who also plays for Alba.

Justin has had a crazy schedule since his season began. He only gets a few days off during a month so when his December schedule was released, we were SO happy to see he had 3 days off in a row. Dec 23-25. We were grateful his team was one of the lucky ones that didn't have games right around Christmas.

Those three days were some of the best we've had. Dec 23, we woke up to snow, which is also super rare to Berlin. We packed Logan up and headed to a different Christmas market at the Charlottenburg Palace. I never noticed how much cobblestone is in our city until we started pushing our baby boy around. Good thing his snowsuit keeps him nice and compact in his carseat! He's been on a few bumpy rides.

We tried lots of good food at this market. Our favorite was the potato tornado with garlic salt. Soooo good. Europe just does food right.

But one of my favorite things that we did during the month was read from the Liahona magazine each day. We would choose a Christmas talk and read it. Justin was particularly good at remembering to do this each day. My favorite times reading were at our dinner table, after Logan had gone to bed with only our Christmas lights and candle lit.

My favorite story is "Jim Had Been Our Christmas". The Church shares so many resources to give us opportunities to feel the Spirit. Lots of goodness in the testimonies and stories of these talks.

Before we moved to Germany, I went through my physical Come Follow Me study journal. It was too big to bring with me, so I pulled out pages of pictures I wanted to bring. One of the pictures was of the nativity. We stuck it up on one of our cabinets to look at during the month. It's still up right now. We took down Christmas over a week ago but I love this picture.

This is CHRISTmas.