Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and hope that all our friends and family did too!  We are blessed beyond measure and so thankful that God sent the best Christmas gift of all, Jesus!  May His peace and love fill your hearts in the coming New Year!  

Christmas Jammies!

We started the tradition of getting Christmas jammies with Ella's first Christmas and now it continues on with Miss Addilyn.  We gave them to them early this year and actually got a couple of cute pics before the madness of Christmas morning happens. :)

More Christmas Fun....

We are having so much fun being on Christmas break and enjoying all the festivities....have I mentioned that I love this age?  Ella is so into everything Christmas, but also understands it and is enjoying the fun things we do.  On Sunday we went to the Nutcracker Tea (a shorter, family-friendly version) with one of my best friends, Alicia and her daughter, Grace.  Very fun "girl-time!"  I know this will become a tradition for me and the girls...very special!

Then today we had a bunch of Ella's friends over to decorate Christmas cookies and watch the Polar Express.  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited she was for this party.  We made the cookies last night and she could hardly contain herself.  The kiddos did a great job and even watched part of the movie quietly before they all got bored and started playing with toys.  

Christmas Happenings....

So much going on around here during this busy season, but

 we know the true reason for the season was the birth of Jesus and we are blessed to know and experience such a gift and celebrate it this time of year!  Ella and Addi both love to sing "Happy Birthday!" to Jesus and carry their little baby Jesus around that Ella used in her preschool musical.  Very cute!  We've made gingerbread houses, had Ella's school Christmas party and program, read lots of Christmas books, and even celebrated an early Christmas with Andy's parents....and it's only December 17th! We are really looking forward to just enjoying the rest of the season together as a family now that Andy's on break!  Yippee!

Our attempt at making a Gingerbread House! 

School Party!

Best Buddies!

More gingerbread houses...yummo!

Playing Mary in the preschool program!

Yep, I made that very cool looking sign in the background....I'm the teacher's pet! ;)

Afterwards she said to Andy & I, "When you guys are proud of me it makes me feel all warm and cozy inside!"  

This one is really into books....it was very quiet for  awhile and we got worried about what she was up to, but we found her sitting in her room just going through a pile of books.  So precious!

Little Helper

Age 5 is such a great age!  Ella loves to help around the house and it actually has ended up being a big help a lot of the times.  She even helped me get our Christmas cards ready and it was so nice to have a helping hand from her!

Family Photos

Just had to share! :)