Merry Christmas

We are back from visiting my in-laws, so I am trying to catch up on blogging.  We had a really nice trip, but it's always good to be home again.  Be sure to also check out the pictures from our kids' Nativity play further down the page.  It's new.

On Christmas Eve, we had lunch-dinner (what do you call a meal at 2 pm?) with a family from church.  Afterwards, we went to another family's house for cookies and hot chocolate, which was pretty much our dinner.  There was several other families there, so there was lots of talking and playing, and a game of Phase 10 for the moms.  We had crackers and cheese when we got home, before opening the pj gifts and settling in for a movie.  So did not calm down our children.

First up- a picture of our (very dry and very dead) Christmas tree before Ryan and I went to bed on Christmas Eve.

 Christmas morning- the girls were excited to see Santa had come.  Guess they must have been good this year. Not a single lump of coal. :)

 Secret Santa visited us twice this year.  On the 23rd, when we got home from church, there was a black trash bag with a huge bow and Santa stickers sitting on our front porch.  Then Christmas morning, when Ryan went out to check on the chickens, there was another package waiting for our family.  I am completely amazed, and really touched, to see our family on the receiving end of these acts of kindness.  We have some wonderful, giving people in our lives, and I'm a little sad that I can't thank these people personally.

 (I love that my kids get excited over books, even the younger ones.)

Elizabeth loves soft things.  

 Elizabeth and Annie drew each other's names for the sister gift exchange, and they gave each other $5 Barbie movies.

This picture of Elizabeth's face cracks me up.  She had this expression on her face almost every time she opened any of her gifts.  I was just trying to get a picture of Emma with her first CD player.

 Secret Santa brought the girls each an American Girl doll.  They all were so stoked!

After lunch, we went outside and played in the snow.  Hello white Christmas!  (Emma credits watching "White Christmas" before bed Christmas Eve for the weather pattern.)

 We are no longer the owners of a sled hill (I think that's the one thing we miss from our old house), so Ryan pulled the kids up and down the driveway.  What a nice dad!

 Then we made a snowman.  We had borrow snow from all around the house to get enough for our big snowman.

Christmas day dinner.  We invited several people for dinner, but ended up by ourselves anyway.  That's ok- it was a nice quiet Christmas, and I was able to get a lot of laundry done before our trip to see Ryan's family the next day.