Celebrating Christmas

Here is a summary of our Christmas preparations and celebrations over the past few weeks.
(Warning...this post contains excessive amounts of pictures!)

Visiting Santa

My sister and I took our girls to see Santa together.  This is her daughter, Tatum's first Christmas, Audra's "second" and Maura's sixth!

 Maura is an old pro with Santa...she was so excited.  She gave him a story she had written for him and a big hug!

Tatum didn't seem to mind sitting on the jolly old man's lap.

Audra, though, would have NO part of it!

 As if to say...don't even try to make me do this:

Baking Christmas cookies

This was definitely a more desirable Christmas activity for Audra.

Maura did almost all of the decorating this year:  mommy frosted and she sprinkled.

Christmas portraits

We had portraits done with cousins Daniel and Charlotte.

the girl cousins...

the boy cousins...

my sweet kiddos...

my handsome boys...

my beautiful girls...

Christmas Eve...

We always spend Christmas Eve at my parents house...dinner and presents with my siblings and their families.

When we got home to kids were anxious to go to bed so Santa could come.  But first, Maura picked out the most perfect of the cookies she had made and left them out for Santa.  Then she sprinkled the magic reindeer food she had made at school on our lawn.

I love the beauty of the tree on Christmas Eve, with sparkling lights in the dark of the night, and colorfully wrapped presents below...waiting for the children who lay sleeping upstairs...dreaming of what tomorrow will bring.

Christmas morning

Yep...Santa came!

The older he gets...the smaller his presents get in size?! 

(but not cost!!)

Ready for church

The rest of the day was spent enjoying new toys and the company of  the many family members who stopped by throughout the day.  And since Christmas is also Daddy's birthday, the presents and celebrating continued...