Family Christmas Picture

Here we are on Christmas Eve. We did a self timer family photo and it actually turned out! For some reason, James will actually look at a camera and smile if no one is holding it. Who knew! James isn't a huge fan of having his picture taken these days. Ella sang beautifully at church and we had a nice dinner at our house with my parents. After my parents left, we let the kids open their presents from "Great Uncle" Hal & Sharleen from CA. Ella has been dying to open these presents ever since they arrived in the mail and tonight she got her wish. Both she and James loved their books! Thank you! Then, we let Ella and James each open a present from Mommy and Daddy. Ella, of course, chose the biggest present that she had under the tree. It was a talking Little Mommy doll. She has named her doll Julia. As I type, Julia is tucked under Ella's arm and the two of them are fast asleep dreaming of Santa visiting our house...

James was rubbing his eyes while he was opening his first present...but he managed to stay awake with all the excitement. I think he won't be needing too much help from Ella with opening his presents this year....though Ella is more than happy to help when asked. James was happy to play with some new cars. He was also happy to be tucked into bed tonight. It will sure be fun to watch the kids' excitement tomorrow morning. We are all looking forward to it!

The kids with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Jim after the church service.

Waiting to open their presents from Hal and Sharleen.

A very excited Ella ready to open a present from us.

A Little Mommy and her baby.

Setting out milk and cookies for Santa.

Happy Christmas Eve!

We are enjoying a very nice Christmas Eve today and hope you are too! We just finished having lunch with some of my high school friends. Now, the kids are napping and Mark and I are relaxing. Then, we'll be heading to a Christmas Eve service at our church. During the service, Ella is singing with her children's choir and I have the honor of filling in as the director of the group. Hopefully, I won't lead this little group of singers astray! They are really so cute when they sing and I am hoping that they know the actions better than I do!! After church, my parents will come over to have dinner. Before bedtime, we promised the kids they could open one present. Ella claims she is going to stay up all night to see Santa. She has been so anxious for him to come and she says she has been trying to be good.

Ella asked Santa for a princess vanity and all the dress up things that go with it. James asked Santa for some num-nums (candy) and a blue tractor. Hopefully Santa will deliver! James wasn't too fond of Santa when we went to his workshop at the mall. He finally sat on his lap and did a quick smile....but he didn't stay there for long. Ella, on the other hand, took the time to give Santa a very detailed description of the gift that she would like to receive. Santa stopped by our house last Thursday evening to check in on the kids and make sure they were being nice. He arrived at our house in a nice Ford pickup. Ella asked about this and was told that the pick-up was on loan from a local car dealership and Santa was happy to use it since his reindeer were resting up for their big trip on Christmas Eve.

Our holiday plans were changed a bit by the weather. We started out on our trip to Mark's parents' house yesterday. Once we were out of town we realized it would not be a fun trip. The visibility was horrible and the roads were getting slick due to very high winds and blowing snow. Mark didn't enjoy driving through white-outs and we were happy to get back home and watch the snow from inside. We'll make our trip up to Grandma & Grandpa O's later this week.

We are looking forward to celebrating all the joys of Christmas tonight and in the in the coming days. To steal a famous line, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!"

The kids visit with Santa.

Ella is explaining the details of the gift she would like while Santa listens with care.

Ella and Santa

Merry Christmas to All...

Little Helper

We've had several snowing mornings lately. Thankfully, we have an eager little helper on our hands. Even dressed in her Sunday best, Ella begs to help daddy clear the sidewalks! Can't turn her down!