Christmas Part 1

We basically had two sets of Christmas celebrations this year - one with my family and one with Joe's family. The celebration with my family began on Christmas Eve morning with sugar cookie decorating. I think that this might be the first year that most of the frosting and toppings made it on the cookies and were not just eaten by the kids!

For Christmas Eve dinner, we had a make your own pizza party. We rolled and stretched the homemade dough, then had a very large buffet of toppings to add to it.

I'm not quite sure what the kids are doing here, but we are waiting for the pizza to finish cooking. Olivia and Ethan decorated the table and were very proud of the results!

Cheers to Christmas!

After dinner we ventured outside in the snow. It was so wonderful to have a white Christmas!

Aunt Rachel (yes, the sweater is a joke) and Uncle Thomas reading to the kids to try and wind them down enough to fall asleep! After tracking NORAD all day they were very excited about the arrival of Santa!

The kids showing off their letters to Santa and the treat they left for him - s'mores!

Santa came! The one toy that Olivia most wanted from Santa was GoGo My Walking Pup. Here she is opening that exact gift from Santa! Whew! He was able to find one!

And the one gift that Ethan most wanted from Santa were the Buzz Lightyear wings.

Olivia and her family gifts turned into a fort. She had so many gifts that one gift became lost in the unwrapping mess and wasn't found until clean up time! A very successful Christmas for her.

Ethan amidst his family gifts.

The big gift that we gave to Olivia this year was her very first real American Girl doll. Up to this point she had only had Bitty Baby dolls. This is the "Like Me" doll and she has aptly named it "Olivia".

Ethan is pretty happy with all of his gifts. Thus far, it seems that the Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash gift has been the favorite (thanks Aunt Rachel and Uncle Thomas!).

Joe and Ethan with the gift that Ethan selected for Joe. Some might remember that last year Ethan picked a Cubs coffee mug for Joe, despite us being crazy Cardinals fans. This year Ethan told Joe "I bought you a mug but I'm not telling you which team I picked". He got it right with the Illini mug! Olivia picked a Cardinals pennant for him.

Olivia and I with her gifts to me - a mom necklace and an angel statue. Ethan selected a snowman snow globe and a bear statue for me.

The "before" picture....

...and "after"! Merry Christmas!