Our Christmas!

OK, so we are very late. :) But we did have a really great Christmas this year, despite the fact that we were all either fighting off illnesses or right in the thick of them. Amanda and I have managed to pass the same throat virus back and forth multiple times since the beginning of December...of course, Christmas isn't exactly the best time to get lots of sleep to be able to fight stuff off (especially after I was up all night when Tristan was born!).

Anyway, we had both our families over to our place for Christmas eve dinner. This was the second year in a row we've done this, and it works out really well - much less work for Mom to pull off two Christmas dinners in a row, and easier to get Amanda down to bed at a reasonable hour so she's not a total bear on Christmas day. This year it also meant we could start some of the rituals I remember from my own childhood...opening up that brand new pair of jammies before bedtime (made with lots of love by Grandma!), then putting out milk and cookies for Santa (and a carrot for Rudolph).

Grandma finally put a design onto Amanda's stocking (it's been blank for the past two years):

The look on Mandy's face when she realized the carrot was for Rudolph!

Putting out milk and cookies:


Christmas day was a bit crazy, as always. After church in the morning, we came back home for lunch and gift opening, then had time for a rest before heading to Cristina's parents' house for Christmas dinner. Amanda wasn't feeling great, but she's such a trooper...rarely complains about anything!

Crazy hair in the morning:

Wow! A Bobs and Lolo CD! (She made this "excited face" for just about every gift...it was classic!)