Christmas

Christmas was very fun around here this year. It was so much more relaxing not having to worry about travelling back and forth to Minnesota twice within a month (between Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends), and no weekends of being on call (it always seemed like there was one of those squeezed in there too). It was striking to realize how it seemed we had so much more time available to enjoy the holiday cheer and anticipation. Plus, the kids are at such fun ages. The old line is so true how great it is to see Christmas through a child's eyes.

We were able to go to the mall to sit on Santa's lap. (We were a little sad to not be able to go to the little shack in Geneva where we used to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus, where we always felt so welcome and where there was never any line.) Riley was not such a big fan of the big man, however. She buried her face in my shoulder and screamed the whole time!

Some attempts at holiday family photos after church...don't we look festive! My mom always does such a great job of decorating.

After church on Christmas Eve, we let the kids each open one present that we had picked out and put under a separate small Christmas tree to keep a little bit of holiday tradition among just the four of us. We had been telling the kids that would be our plan since earlier in the day, and Conor ran straight to the present as soon as we got home--how unfair of us to think we could get settled in a little first. Here is the evidence of how he just couldn't wait anymore. Riley got some Minnie Mouse slippers and Conor got a Transformers toy.

On Christmas morning, the kids were excited to see that Santa had arrived. He ate the cookies and milk and the reindeer ate the carrots. We opened presents, dumped out stockings, and headed down to the big Christmas tree to open the rest of the presents among our family.

Then it was time to get ready for everyone else to come over for the family Christmas celebration.