Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we were able to get out thanks to our 4-wheel drive & a husband who gets a complete thrill driving in this kind of weather. I think our daughters will follow their daddy's footsteps... as we headed down our street {with a bit of sliding} I hear, "Yea! We made it!" from the back seat. I turned around & saw both girls with huge smiles & their arms up like they were on a roller coaster!

We celebrated Greg's birthday lunch at Stanford's. Trav & I shared an interesting dessert... a "bag of doughnuts". They were hot - fresh out of the oven with cinnamon & sugar. It came with a side of chocolate for dipping. They were a lot like little elephant ears & completely yummy!

We spent Christmas Eve with Trav's mom & cousin. It was a very low-key evening with great food & family. Jamie, Kurt, & Kelly gave the girls some great jingle bells. They proceeded to sing the song "Jingle Bells" with Meri keeping the beat! {Travis thinks she'll be in a band some day... he couldn't believe how great her rhythm was!}

Later we went over to my mom's for the night. Ali put out cookies for Santa & carrots for the reindeer, and it was at this point I realized that I forgot our camera at Jamie & Kurt's. Argh!! Fortunately, I come from a family of picture-taker-scrapbookers, so my mom had a camera charged & ready to go. We put the girls to bed {after chasing, running, & playing with cousin Kelly} & fell asleep immediately... even as excited as they were!

Christmas Day was whirlwind of great things. The girls were so excited to see all that Santa had left! Ali was eager to open one present after the next, while Meri would open one & want to play for awhile before moving on. Casey & her family came for a delicious brunch, more presents, & stockings. After every gift had been opened & the tattered remains of Christmas paper had been gathered up, it was time to check out the new toys, movies, & books. The cousins played all day with the new toys! Almost everything was opened and tested. After naps & more movies, we settled in for another fabulous meal. {Thank goodness for stretchy pants!} The day was great, but the best gift was being together with my family.