This year was the first time we've spent Christmas with the kids in our own home. It was so wonderful not to worry about shipping out presents, catching planes and living out of suitcases for the holidays. Instead we had family fly to us! Taber's parents and his grandmother came to town and enjoyed a beautiful white Minnesota Christmas, the first and last we will celebrate in our Maple Grove home.
The night before Christmas Teya wrote a final letter to Santa and left it by a plate of cookies. When I asked her how many cookies we should put on the plate she thought about it for awhile and then very seriously said, "Well, how about 3. We don't want him to get sick." I thought that was pretty sweet and thoughtful of her : )
On Christmas morning the girls went downstairs to find that Santa had come.
Teya rushed over to her note and plate of cookies and sure enough, the cookies were gone and Santa had written a long letter that had an interesting bias towards her Grandpa and how she should come visit him more often. hmm.... ; )
The rest of the morning was Christmas magic. Teya was so excited about every gift she got. From the goodies in her stockings to the littlest toy. She opened each one exclaiming "Thank you Santa!" and "Oh I love this one!" Her gratitude was so genuine and sincere, it was the sweetest thing to watch.
She even did well when she opened a package of clothes. Instead of tossing it aside or getting mad she smiled and laughed and said, "This is a silly present!" But she was still happy and grateful just the same.
The girls in their new matching outfits from Grandma Karen
Brinley was thrilled with everything too. She just kept bringing presents to me and saying "Opig, opig!" (open open!)
After opening up a few stuffed animals she pulled them all into her chest and just sat there cuddling them and zoning out into her own world.
It's funny because I was kind of sad when Teya asked for more big girl things this year like princess stuff, Polly pockets, Ariel dolls etc... But at the end of the day it's not uncommon to find her sleeping with Brinley's elephant and piglet. I'm glad she's not quite out of the stuffed animal phase yet ; )
As you can imagine with two little girls in the house we had an explosion of girlyness! Pink fairy wings, sparkly crowns, princess dolls, bows and pink clothes.
Still, we do have one little boy in the house, and he was quite thrilled to have his very own brand new Mighty Bone to chew on to his hearts content.
Everyone enjoyed the morning opening presents and just hanging out together in our jammies. When we were done with gifts Grandma Karen made us her famous Christmas rice pancakes, something that Taber always talks about from his childhood. I've actually never made them for him so I was glad she was here to do it and teach me how.
Later that day we bundled up for some fun in the snow. We had quite the storm the night before and there was tons of sticky snow, perfect for snowman making!
Teya really wanted to make a snowman family so she, Taber and Grandpa dug, rolled, patted and sculpted until 4 happy little snowman stood in front of our house.
It's crazy to think that that next week we'll be gone and starting a new chapter of our lives. I'm so glad we got to spend a Christmas here before we left. Minnesota is an amazing and beautiful place. I never imagined I could love it so much but I do, and I will miss it. A lot.
The night before Christmas Teya wrote a final letter to Santa and left it by a plate of cookies. When I asked her how many cookies we should put on the plate she thought about it for awhile and then very seriously said, "Well, how about 3. We don't want him to get sick." I thought that was pretty sweet and thoughtful of her : )
On Christmas morning the girls went downstairs to find that Santa had come.
Teya rushed over to her note and plate of cookies and sure enough, the cookies were gone and Santa had written a long letter that had an interesting bias towards her Grandpa and how she should come visit him more often. hmm.... ; )
The rest of the morning was Christmas magic. Teya was so excited about every gift she got. From the goodies in her stockings to the littlest toy. She opened each one exclaiming "Thank you Santa!" and "Oh I love this one!" Her gratitude was so genuine and sincere, it was the sweetest thing to watch.
She even did well when she opened a package of clothes. Instead of tossing it aside or getting mad she smiled and laughed and said, "This is a silly present!" But she was still happy and grateful just the same.
The girls in their new matching outfits from Grandma Karen
Brinley was thrilled with everything too. She just kept bringing presents to me and saying "Opig, opig!" (open open!)
After opening up a few stuffed animals she pulled them all into her chest and just sat there cuddling them and zoning out into her own world.
It's funny because I was kind of sad when Teya asked for more big girl things this year like princess stuff, Polly pockets, Ariel dolls etc... But at the end of the day it's not uncommon to find her sleeping with Brinley's elephant and piglet. I'm glad she's not quite out of the stuffed animal phase yet ; )
As you can imagine with two little girls in the house we had an explosion of girlyness! Pink fairy wings, sparkly crowns, princess dolls, bows and pink clothes.
Still, we do have one little boy in the house, and he was quite thrilled to have his very own brand new Mighty Bone to chew on to his hearts content.
Everyone enjoyed the morning opening presents and just hanging out together in our jammies. When we were done with gifts Grandma Karen made us her famous Christmas rice pancakes, something that Taber always talks about from his childhood. I've actually never made them for him so I was glad she was here to do it and teach me how.
Later that day we bundled up for some fun in the snow. We had quite the storm the night before and there was tons of sticky snow, perfect for snowman making!
Teya really wanted to make a snowman family so she, Taber and Grandpa dug, rolled, patted and sculpted until 4 happy little snowman stood in front of our house.
It's crazy to think that that next week we'll be gone and starting a new chapter of our lives. I'm so glad we got to spend a Christmas here before we left. Minnesota is an amazing and beautiful place. I never imagined I could love it so much but I do, and I will miss it. A lot.
10 comments:
So fun to see all the pics. The girls are adorable and so cute in their matching outfits. Love you guys. Good luck with the move!
Boy are you right. What an explosion of girliness! How fun for Teya to have a sister. Sometimes I wish Abigail could have that. sometimes... And all that snow. We would be housebound for months here in TN! Good luck with the move. That I don't envy at all.
What a fun Christmas! I love all the pictres of the girls, and hearing what Teya said...what a sweetie! I can't believe you will be gone in a week... :( Let me know what I can do to help!
The snowman family is the BEST! Glad you had a great Christmas and I'm super excited to see you guys this weekend! Good luck with everything until then!
Boy there is a lot of pink in your house... ;) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I love the girly Christmas!
And it is wonderful to have Christmas in your home. This Christmas was the first time we did it too and I think we might just stick with it and visit family after-or something.
Thanks for your comment on my blog about the Soothie! I didn't know that about the teeth! I have been trying to get her on the Nuk more often just because I think it's less massive on her face.
I love the picture with the pink jackets, Brinley is totally striking a pose!
I think the snowman family is awesome too. Funny thing is- Callie has been asking to do the very same thing!
Good luck with the move you guys!
So cute. Looks like you had a great Christmas at home. The girls look so happy in all their pictures. My favorite was the one of Brinley zoned out with her stuffed animals. Way to go on the snow man too. I don't think I could've stayed out in the cold long enough to finish even one. Good luck with the move. Wish I was there to help :)
Holy moly, look at those snowmen! I was kinda sad Makenzie saw them bc now she knows how lame the "baby snowmen" were that we made this year (it was a busy day and we didn't have a lot of snow...).
Love the pics of the girls in the matching outfits, that is so cute. Brinley's hair is so long, it looks really cute like that!
Glad you guys had a great Christmas! Good luck with the moving madness!
Snow people...wow!
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