Merry Christmas

Here we are celebrating Christmas 2008 already. This year was decidedly low-key. I stayed home with the kids on Christmas Eve, and Jennifer worked until noon then did a little last minute shopping on the way home. We went to the Christmas Eve service at church at 4:30, then came home for dinner, cookies and presents. We had little smokies and ham and cheese with crackers. I decided to try a different cookie recipe this year and made chocolate crackle cookies - they turned out great and Santa is sure to gain an extra pound or two.
After we finished dinner, we opened presents - Santa didn't come during church this year, so we had to wait until morning to see what he would bring.







Alison got a "Belle" Disney princess costume, a dance-along DVD, a coloring book, a bouncing ball, pajamas and a robe. Eli got a dump truck full of mega blocks, a big stuffed dog, a tool kit and a Little Einsteins baton. In the morning, Santa brought Alison a DVD (The Little Mermaid) and Eli got a new flashlight. Flashlights are very popular around here!



It finally warmed up a bit around here today - it's almost 20 degrees! Both kids got to play in the snow for a while. This was really Eli's first time being able to play in the snow, and he seemed to enjoy it.





I just asked Alison what else she got for Christmas, and she said "Jesus! Jesus is the best present!"