We Had a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas has come and gone, leaving behind only cookie crumbs, half-full bottles of wine (working on that) and about 10 pounds of our 16 pound ham (not even wanting to work on that). The girls made the "nice" list, paving the way for Santa's yearly visit - they even got to sit in his sleigh before he made his rounds!

Cousin Vilia came over for Christmas Eve dinner - Let the ceremonial belly-showing commence!

Maddy to Vilia - "Jealous??"

Cozy new pajamas were opened, ensuring a long snooze on the eve of the big day...

...and Vilia regaled Grandma and Grandpa with a classic game of peek-a-boo.

We really did eat dinner but by the time I got around to taking a picture most of it was in our tummies. We still managed to find room for chocolate mousse, snowball cookies and two pounds of See's Candy. At this point in my post I would like to point out that I myself only enjoyed 2 pieces of candy. I won't name names but the rest of you candy hoarders know who you are.

The stage was set for Christmas morning...

...and the girls ran downstairs to see what the big guy had brought.

New dollies...

...and a sled!

We had a very merry Christmas...

...and hope you did too!

On Saturday Isabelle, Madeleine and I took the train to Eugene for some pre-Christmas festivities. After almost eight hours on the rails we arrived safely and were welcomed by the delicious smell of my Mom's beef bourguignon as we came in the door.

Yesterday we visited my Aunt Bonnie's beautiful new home and were treated to a live National Geographic show when it was time to feed her turtle. Maddy's mouth dropped open when the live worms were dropped in the tank.

The experience was both horrifying and mesmerizing although Isabelle did not stop chewing on her candy cane, despite pointing out the blood in the water.

"Thanks Aunt Bonnie! We've never seen anything like that before!"

The thrills kept coming when Bonnie showed the girls her bird. Madeleine was beside herself with excitement and kept asking to see the "real bird" - I don't think she's ever been that close to one before.

Later that day Aunt Darla and cousin Vilia joined in on some sugar cookie decorating fun.

Maddy and Vilia tried their best but ended up doing a lot more eating than decorating...

...while Isabelle took her time and has yet to eat one of her creations.

Today the girls rested from their visits to all their family members before we head back to Seattle for our first Christmas in our new house - not to mention the first Christmas we'll sleep in our own beds on Christmas Eve in ten years! We're looking forward to it!

Madeleine was all smiles mid-afternoon today but after not being able to fall asleep at nap time and coming down with a cold, she melted down in the middle of dinner tonight. Hopefully she's back to her happy self in the morning.

Cozy Wordless Wednesday

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

On this frigidly cold, sunny day we headed out to Farmer Brown's to search for the perfect Christmas tree. After warming our tummies with hot chocolate and eating a few doughnuts for sustenance we made it to the farm and the hunt was on.

An hour later, after chasing down Madeleine and being led by Isabelle, the sun finally shone on the perfect tree.

Time to decorate!

The oldest sister gets to put the angel on the tree.

The youngest sister was just fine with that - she snuck a few extra cookies while the rest of us were otherwise disposed.

The award for Best Use of a Tree Skirt went to...Isabelle!

Madeleine helped her daddy water the tree.

All done!