Graham Cracker Construction

Every year, for as long as I can remember, my family always makes Graham Cracker houses at Christmas time.  Since I was the host, I had the big job of making the perfect frosting to stick everything together. 

Eleanor is getting better each year.  She added lots of cute embellishments to her house this year. 

Grandma made the adorable wagon and even came prepared with her own set of mini lights to decorate it!

Grandpa's bird house was awesome.

 I went for some charming row houses this year.  Loved the wafer-cooking "siding". 

 Matt had grand plans for his Parthenon and did pretty well getting as much as possible done before he had to hop on a flight back home.  The rest was left in ruins...
Gavin was busy constructing his Christmas present, so he had to take a pass this year.  That means we expect great things next year!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas morning together.  I love seeing the kids come out together when they hear the Christmas music.  This might be the last year we get them both in footie pajamas. :)

 The first thing Katie saw was this sucker from Grandma and Grandpa.  The presents could have stopped right there for her and she would have been fine.  That girl is a sucker for suckers, yes, I couldn't help it.

 I love how sweet these two are about giving gifts to each other.  Katie knew exactly what she wanted to get for Eleanor and after we were lucky to find it - she promptly told Eleanor precisely what it was.  She still couldn't wait to "surprise" her with her gift.  Eleanor made Katie a little paintbrush holder for her watercolor brushes and got her new paints.  That is Katie's super favorite past time.  Seeing how much they love each other just melts my heart!

 Katie did a little better keeping her gift to Dad a surprise.  She held it in ... right up until this moment when she hands him his gift and says, "You can open your surprise - it's a Dr. Seuss shirt." Hilarious!

 Eleanor didn't ask Santa for anything.  She doesn't really play with toys that often, so figuring out the perfect gift for her was hard.  We decided on her own set of scriptures with her name on them.  I wasn't sure what her reaction would be, but this look was genuine.  It really was her favorite gift.  I'm so glad.  Especially when she told me that was what she was secretly hoping for.  Whew! 

We enjoyed having a leisurely Christmas morning followed by a great church service.  And Christmas dinner was so fantastic, I'm still thinking about it.  The kids felt incredibly spoiled by everyone's generosity.  There was lots of love for all our family, friends, and most of all our Savior whose birth we celebrated!

Christmas Eve

It was a first for us to host family at our house for Christmas!  We were so excited to have a new blanket of snow to make everything beautiful.  Once Katie discovered eating the white stuff she didn't stop.  I think it's her new favorite food.

 It was too powdery to stick together, but Eleanor and Katie managed to make some cute snow blobs. 

 Of course, time with cousins was a huge highlight!  Lilly usually prefers to play with Eleanor, but since she was unavailable - she and Katie had some sweet bonding moments together. 

Our nephew Tyler is just the cutest thing. 

 We started a hair-braiding party and pretty soon everyone was sporting them - even Tyler, who has some spectacular locks for a 10 month old.

 Our efforts at a Nativity presentation were somewhat laughable - but hey, we were having fun.  Eleanor was the angel, Katie was a wise man (she presented her balloon gift on bended knee), Lilly was Mary. 

 Matt, the shepherd, very closely watching his flock by night. 

The kids all enjoyed getting a special video from Santa that highlighted something specific they were working on this year.  Luckily, they were all on the nice list, so there was a lot of anticipation going to bed Christmas Eve.