Christmas celebrations

We had a lovely Christmas. It was the first time in 11 years of marriage that we celebrated here in Memphis. I love visiting our families over the holidays, but something about celebrating Christmas in our home was really lovely. 

On Christmas Eve, we headed to church. We went to a family service (which the girls loved) and then stayed for the communion and candlelight service. Both services were great.

In my family, we always opened gifts from each other on Christmas Eve. So that's what we did when we got home from church.

Peter is shocked... It's pants and a top - not a dress!

Play food!

I thought this game would occupy Caroline for days. She had plowed through over half the puzzles in a little over an hour. Smartie pants.

Caroline is the best gift opener. She is so excited over even the tiniest things. It's really fun to watch.

This one is pretty excited over presents, too. She and Caroline both got scooters from us. She was thrilled and couldn't wait for Daddy to get the box open so she could ride it.

We fed the reindeer.

And Santa came! He brought bean bag chairs, Fur Real kitties, slippers, and stockings full of little fun things. It was "wunnerful", as Helen said.

Santa even found some little things to make Peter happy.

We headed out Christmas Day afternoon to spend some time with my family. This is my dad, my mom, K and me, Erin and her husband, and all the kids - Lila, Danielle, Ian, Helen, Caroline, Autumn, and Peter. Whew! It can get pretty crazy at times.

It was so fun to watch all the kids opening their gifts. Kind of controlled chaos.

After Erin and her crew left, these two decided it was time for a bedtime snack. Ham. Of course. Doesn't everyone eat a few pieces of ham when they're hungry before bed?

Yes, that's my 5-month-old baby, who still prefers to be swaddled at night. It took quite a bit of convincing to get everyone settled down for the night. It was an exciting, fun Christmas!

 

We headed out Tuesday morning for Kevin's parents to celebrate with them. Caroline has the pictures from that celebration on her camera, so I'll have to figure that out and update this post with those pictures. 

It was a very, very lovely Christmas!