Visiting with Great-Grandma & Grandpa
Wrapping paper is the best!
Coming downstairs Christmas morning
Here's some lipstick Samantha! (don't worry, it's pretend)
Wow! We had quite an eventful Christmas week. We spent lots of time with family which was very fun. We got to see Christmas lights and Disney On Ice...very magical for Danielle especially. The week flew by and now we are home again. We get to do Christmas AGAIN next weekend with my family! We are happy to extend the festivities as long as possible. Lots of goodies to eat, surprises to keep, and pictures to take. I can't believe how much fun Christmas is when you see it through the eyes of a child. Samantha had her 1st Christmas and seemed to enjoy it. Her favorite thing was the wrapping paper, of course, but she also likes her new toys that make noise when she pushes buttons, etc. She got a very special gift from her Auntie Jen & Uncle Mark. Her Auntie's little rocking chair from when she was a baby that Mark refinished into a beautiful white piece of furniture. She loves it!
Everyone praying for baby Jesus
The final positioning - chosen by Danielle
Last night was special decorating the Christmas tree but this morning was absolutely precious. I am so blessed to have these little moments with Danielle (of course Samantha, too, but this morning she took a long nap so I had a special morning with my big girl). We got out the nativity scene and I told her story of Jesus' birth (the 3 year old version) and reminded her that we celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas day. She rearranged them different ways and thought it was very special. There's a song I've heard where a little girl remembers looking at her mother's nativity scene each Christmas. I hope my girls have special memories of this tradition. The picture where they are all praying is her copying what we do with her when we tuck her in. 
Last night we got the tree up, decorated, and put out some decorations! It was a magical evening even though Jeff & Danielle have a cold and aren't feeling their best. I'm so thankful for these family moments that I will never forget. Samantha loved the lights and ornaments and Danielle helped put them on the tree. It was fun to share with Danielle the meaning of all the ornaments. We don't have any "decorative" ornaments on our tree, they are all very special ones with a meaning behind each one. We are going to have to get a very full tree in order to fit decorative ones, too.
We have thankfully been quite healthy this year but sadly today both Jeff and Danielle have the terrible cough, sore throat, etc. We're hoping it is a short-lived illness so they feel better quickly and that Samantha doesn't get it. Danielle is the only kid I know who still wants to wear a dress to dance around the house even when she's not feeling good. I started to say "no" when she asked but then thought it might be best if I encourage her to be active and go on with our day as if she is well. We never want our kids to be sick, but we really want to be well for the end of the month so maybe we can just get this out of the way now. 
Well, we hiked and hiked looking for a good Christmas tree. Danielle and Samantha were real troopers. Samantha in the backpack and Danielle hiking it all by herself. There was no snow but that made it much easier and kept us warm and dry. Danielle did get tired of the hunt pretty quickly so we started singing songs. My favorite was "O Christmas Tree" and of course I sang, "how lovely are your branches". Well, Danielle has always told us how Christmas trees are prickly so she decided to sing, "how prickly are your branches"! I thought that was cute and will now be included in our version of the song. 
