We celebrated our "2nd" Christmas with my dad and stepmom and my sister and her family. Our traditional celebration time is Christmas Eve. They all came to our house this year. This was a first for me...a big holiday celebration at our house. I enjoyed playing hostess, but it was a little bit of work...little extra cleaning and little more cooking than normal. However, we didn't have to travel, which is a huge plus.
Ellen and Marquette arrived the evening before Christmas Eve. (Hunter spent the week with Daddy and Judy.) Marquette spent quite a bit of time playing with Chloe. Ellen was a tremendous help in the kitchen. I had a longer list of things to do that evening than I meant to. Ellen undertook "grandma's rolls"! (Maybe not so much of an undertaking as asking what she could do and that being the task forced upon her!) 
Marquette and his lego creation :) He used every single lego.
Ellen kneading some tasty bread dough...as you can see from the photo...they turned out great!Christmas Eve morning brought the arrival of Daddy, Judy, and Hunter. Gifts were exchanged and a FABULOUS holiday meal was prepared. The meal consisted of a turkey smoked by Adam, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, squash casserole (had that for supper, since someone forgot to turn ON the oven when they put it in), brussel sprouts and bacon (not so yummy...it was an experiment; I was looking for a new traditional dish...that will NOT be it!) mashed potatoes, and rolls. We all had a great time enjoying one another's company.
Hunter and Chloe in front of the tree. Hunter couldn't wait to get into the presents. Chloe was pretty excited too, just not so much about the picture being taken.
This part of our family stuffs stockings for everyone each year. It's so much fun finding out what creative little things can fit inside! Here's Chloe opening her stocking. This Christmas was great...Chloe didn't understand everything, but she did get most excited about opening presents. I think she is going to enjoy surprises!
Ellen, Chloe, and I decorated our nails for the occasion :) This was the first time I had attempted painting Chloe's nails. She was very interested in the colors of our nails, so she patiently sat while I painted her fingers AND her toes!
Papa reading one of Hunter's new books to Hunter and Chloe. They will soon find out that Papa is one of the greatest storytellers around :)
Family photos :) Autumn's under the pink blanket, sleeping peacefully amongst the hub bub of gift opening.
Those are not legos...they are blocks Just making sure you know... :)
ReplyDelete