Christmas Eve

To start out, we were dreaming of a white Christmas and got one. It only snowed a few inches, but it was enough to turn everything white. This is a picture from our front porch. I had to work, but only until 12:00 which was nice. Some day I would like to take the whole month of December off to listen to Christmas music, shop without having to worry about a budget and drink hot chocolate while I watch every Christmas movie there is. I love Christmas time and always dread the let down when it was over. I remember being a teenager and being so sad when Christmas was over. I love all of the decorations, music and traditions that come along with it. There is always a very special feeling this time of year no matter what else is going on in life that always makes you feel good. 

We made a snowman in the front yard. It was hard because the snow was too cold to stick together so we had to force it. We had some deer antlers and a hula hoop which is more of my dad's cousin Eddie style from Christmas vacation, but Annie wouldn't let us keep it in the front yard like that. The girls were ticked .We found the flower in the trees next door which was actually a shower scrubber. I didn't let the girls touch it!

This is our revised snow woman. 

We didn't get Christmas dresses for the girls until Christmas Eve. K-mart had some cute ones for 50% off. Hallies and Mya's ended up being too small, but they were the only sizes they had. Mya was bummed because she loved her PURPLE one. That is her favorite color. 

We wanted to get some cute pictures of them by the tree, but I am no photographer so I was trying all of the different settings on the camera trying to get something cute to turn out. Luckily they make any picture look cute, even if they are not happy. 

As you can see in the pictures with Hallie, she was not too excited to be there. She was ticked that her sleeves didn't come down all the way to her wrists. It was driving her nuts and she was driving us nuts. Annie and I both had to bring out all of the threats including calling Santa to get her to put the clothes on and put a smile on her face. She got the clothes on, but could not find a smile. 

This was probably after we had threatened her and Shelby and Mya were looking to see what she would do. 

We loved all of  the outfits, and Hallie's was really cute, but she is so particular, if it isn't exactly how she thinks it should be, whether she is right or wrong she won't wear it. 

We tried to do solo pictures of each girl as well. 

Shelby was definitely in a picture taking mood, she absolutely loved her outfit. 

Mya was and did too. 

We gave Mya a pixie hair cut to go with her bangs since they have not grown in yet and she looks adorable when it is done. 

We made them walk outside to the lot next door and they braved the cold. 

I like Mya's face in this one. 

Mya was Freezing!

We love our house, one of the ladies from our ward that I visit paints and I am trying to get her to do a painting of our house to keep as a memory. 

Abby is getting ready for Christmas by watching out the window and barking at anything that moves or doesn't move. 

Mya and Shelby where dancing and twirling to the Polar Express soundtrack. 

After Hallie got over the clothing and pictures ordeal, she was back to her happy self. She has gotten pretty tough and loves to be outside. She was sledding down the stairs in the back yard and was loving it. Which is totally something I would have been doing when I was younger. 

Annie has taught me how to not have a stressful Christmas. I remember waiting until Christmas Eve or the week before to figure out my Christmas shopping. We have scaled back a ton and really haven't gotten each other  or anyone other than the girls any presents since I came back to school in 2009 due to our tight budget. We have always been blessed and family has always helped out. Annie usually has the grocery and Christmas lists ready at least a month or two ahead of time. We had all of the food bought and most of the gifts accounted for by the 5th. This makes Christams Eve really enjoyable, because we don't have to rush to get anything done. I know some people like my grandma and Therese are far ahead of that, but for me that is a miracle.

We have been so watched over by family and friends. I am always worried that we won't have enough gifts for the girls, but day after day we have received wonderful thoughtful packages from family and it has really made this Christmas special. So I would like to thank everyone for thinking of us and taking the time, energy and money to send us something. We really appreciate it.

I remember a year when we lived here before, someone would leave food or presents at our door everyday for the week before Christmas, we had food and tons of gifts. We hope to do that in the future for others.

For dinner we had clam chowder, sweet and sour meatballs, 7 layer salad , a really yummy layered jello, an icy fruit  drink with pineapple, lime, mango coconut, etc. We also had two different kinds of chocolate covered treats, brownies and hot apple cider. It is no wonder that I have gained weight. Ever since I have known Annie she has been an awesome baker. I remember when we were dating and she would always bring me left over cakes and desserts from the apple cellar where she decorated cakes. I always look forward to Christmas because she goes crazy with food and desserts. Even though she complains about how bad we are eating afterwards it is a fun time. Oh yeah, we had spinach and artichoke dip, and rolls. Needless to say we have a ton of leftovers. 

After Annie slaved all day, the dinner was over in five minutes. The girls each ate about a bite of food.  Luckily I am here to make up for that. 

We tried a new tradition this year. We went to the dollar store, drew names and did a secret Santa with the family. It gave the girls one more thing to open on Christmas Eve. Shelby was so excited, they all had such a hard time keeping it a secret and they were so worried that someone had not chosen their name and they would miss out on a gift. Shelby chose my name and was so happy to have found the perfect gift for me. She was so proud that she had picked it out herself without any help. It was a  squishy skull that you squeeze and the eyes and brains pop out. She said that she knew I would love it. They all loved it even more than I did and it was popped by the end of the night. 

The worst part of Christmas is the cleanup. Since the dresses didn't fit, we took them back to K-mart to swap for PJ's, because the ones we found on-line didn't fit them either. They are growing too fast! By the time we got back, Annie had the kitchen cleaned up and spotless. That is another thing  that I will remember about her at the holidays. She never takes the time to sit down, because she always has about ten different projects going and they all turn out perfectly. 

As I mentioned, we went to K-mart to find some pj's with feet, but they didn't have any in Shelby or Hallie's size. They decided to get soft robes instead, which they were thrilled about. On the way home I couldn't resist stopping in the college parking lot to do some cookies in the snow. The girls liked it so much that they made me stop at the church parking lot after that. I am teaching them well. I told them to keep it a secret and as soon as we got home Hallie rushed into the house before I did so she could tell mom that we were doing cookies in the parking lot. 

Mya got Shelby's that were too small for her and she was thrilled. 

For the Secret Santa I had Mya's name and got her a puzzle of the US so we could show them where all of our family was for Christmas, Mya had Annie and got her a notepad for all of the lists that she writes everyday. Shelby had me and got me the squishy skull, Annie had Hallie and got her some fun sticky hands as you can see in the picture, Hallie had Shelby and got her some silly putty. They had a fun time. 

Here is Shelby's robe and it has a big penguin on the back.