Christmas week: Part one

Just like that, Christmas season is done! I can't say that I'm too disappointed, because guess what is next?... baby time. There isn't anything else to look forward to but the arrival of a baby girl that we have been eagerly waiting on for months. 

But since that is still a few weeks away, let's recap Christmas.

On Sunday, we celebrated our Goddaughter's first birthday. The girls were totally into every aspect of the party, the food, the other kids, the balloons, and the gift opening. This was the only picture I got, but it represents the day quite well. 

On Monday, three days before Christmas, our family joined up with our dear friends, the Buske's, to go to the old Catholic church downtown for their first annual Caroling Night. It ended up being fairly formal (sitting the whole time in the big cathedral, not many other kids, very very quiet when the music was not playing) and the girls were quite hyped up since it was later in the evening and I had mistakenly made this a huge-fun-high-expectations event. The first half was mostly just us in distract-the-kids mode, but thankfully, they settled in and we ended up enjoying it despite things working against us. Josie even sang along on the few songs she knew. 

Afterwards, they served cookies and hot cider. They decorated the tables by coloring Christmas pictures on huge white sheets (adorable) and with laying a few Christmas ornaments around. The only pictures we got were of them holding up their favorites. Audrey found "Joy" which is her middle name, and Josie found a dove, because she likes birds. (Well, she was pretty goofy here, so who knows why she picked it.)

The next day, we headed off to the family farm on Mike's side. We got there before everyone else, so I had the girls make a birthday cake for Jesus. Josie did most of the stirring (seriously, I just finished up the edges and the big chunks) while Audrey waited patiently for her chance to lick the batter. That's about all we could expect from her, the two year old. And yes, Josie picked a red velvet cake with purple frosting. Only the best for Jesus!

More of the family showed up the next day, Christmas Eve, so the kids played, checked cows, napped, and then got all dressed up for church at night. They dress up nicely, if I do say so myself.

After church, the rest of the family arrived (the cousins, aka the other kids, so the girls were thrilled) so we ate appetizers (a tradition on Christmas Eve), opened gifts, and stayed up way too late. The girls did awesome even with a lack of sleep. 

On Christmas morning, the girls got up at a decent time, since they aren't really into Santa and stockings, so we headed upstairs to watch them open their stockings. Each girl got a book, some candy, and a handful of finger puppets. Keeping it simple around here. :)

The rest of the day consisted of the kids playing with their gifts (all while wearing their new Elsa and Anna dresses of course) and enjoying each other's company. Mike's grandparents came over for dinner, and then it was time to hit the road back home! Our plan was to drive starting at bedtime, but of course they didn't fall asleep until we were only an hour from home. I'm so thankful with how well the girls can adjust when their sleep schedules are off. It wasn't always the case.

One Christmas celebration down, one to go.