Who needs snow for Christmas? Not us!

There's nothing like the joy of rolling out of your bed and running downstairs to see what Santa has brought! After quick inspection to see if Santa ate some cookies and shared his carrot with the reindeer, the girls dug into their stockings. Evie is always excited to get her toothpaste and vitamins. 

This year, cool gift certificates to Cheesetique and Dairy Godmother, our favorite Del Ray spots. Looks like Evie will be loading up on a lot of cheese in the coming months! 

Evie is over the moon to get an American Girl doll that looks just like her, including some pink rose glasses. 

Teamwork!  The girls dig into Ellie's Santa gifts, which included a Paw Patroller and 3 accompanying pups - Everest, Chase, and Marshall. 

The girls share big hugs after opening each other's gifts to each other. 

They want to read their new books immediately - so we take a break to read a Bitty Baby book and pose with the Piggy Popper and new purple hedgehog. 

Ellie is delighted to get Rolly, one of the 101 Dalmations.  It's appropriate given later that day she would be asking "When's dinner? I'm hungry." 

Dad models his "superhero" mask -- maybe one day this winter he'll be able to wear it if it ever gets cold. 

Later, we were all excited with the arrival of Bebe, Popi and Dolly. Evie is excited to open up her very own Lego Christmas Village. 

Meanwhile, Ellie gets a Crazy Forts set, which we used to build our first igloo later that night. 

When Ba and Opa arrived, we had a delicious dinner of crab cakes with arugula, tomato, and corn salad; roast lamb with asparagus and rosemary potatoes, and topped it off with a delicious bread pudding!  It was a wonderful dinner - thank you Wegmans for making it so easy! 

After a satisfying meal, we gather around to commemorate Christmas 2015 with our new friends - including Snoopy, Rolly, Kate and Lucky - and our loving family! 

Christmas Eve Part I

We went over to Ba's and Opa's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with a delicious French dinner of French Onion Soup and Duck a la Orange. 

Ellie gives mommy a kiss under the mistletoe (otherwise known as the plant that kept hitting Opa and Daddy in the head as they walked by). 

The girls got to open a couple of gifts before the big day. 

The family's new favorite dog, Snoopy, has taken over our hearts.

A new puzzle for Evie - because neither "snow nor ice, hail or rain" will keep her away from ballet class. 

Evie gives Ba a big kiss as thanks for her lovely gifts. 

It's a ho ho holiday playdate!

The girls were awesome hostesses this weekend of a holiday-themed playdate with friends Ella, Kailyn, Mary Manning and Austin. The girls donned their aprons and got ready to do some crafts and cooking to the tunes of the Chipmunks holiday record, of course. 

Ella, Evie and Kailyn have fun using the cookie cutters to make some sugar cookie magic.  Through this process, Daddy learned it's probably a good idea to ration the candy and sprinkles next time. 

Evie is all smiles as she adds some M&M ornaments to the tree. Then it was the bigger girls' turn to make some reindeer and snowman ornaments. 

Next, Austin, Ellie and Mary Manning had a chance to make their own cookies.  It was so cute when the girls were all together - they gave each other a big group hug!  It was a fantastic time had by all! 

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas

Ellie has been practicing all week for her big debut during the MHCP holiday sing, enjoyed by Ba, Mommy and Daddy. She impressed everyone with her fancy twirls with her partner, Nicholas.

Ellie loved belting out Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer with gusto! 

Afterwards, she took us to one of her favorite spots next to the school. 

Later that night, the girls and Mommy took Ba to see the Nutcracker danced by the Moscow Ballet. 

It was a magical night filled with some beautiful dancers and costumes. 

Christmastime in New Jersey!

We had a delightful time with Bebe and Popi and the family this weekend!  Evie and Ellie were excited to give them their gifts: a plate and a stocking ornament. 

Another year, another couple of inches! 

Mom and Bryn just hanging around! 

Molly rings some bells as we sing some carols. 

Stan's favorite: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. 

...onto Frosty the Snowman! 

Time for gifts! 

We had delicious cupcakes to celebrate Aunty Karen's birthday - time to blow out the candles! 

  

Speaking of candles, time to light the German pyramidin! 

It's Tradition! Christmas starts with the Scottish Walk

One of our favorite traditions is celebrating the holiday season with the annual Scottish Walk in Old Town.  The parade seemed longer this year and with less bagpipers than usual, but it is always nice to see the doggies in their cute holiday outfits, Darth Vader wearing a Santa hat, and of course, load up on candy. 

This year the girls' candy stash was limited to what they could fit in their pockets, leading Ellie to exclaim "My pockets are exploding with candy!"  Meanwhile, Evie had a Santa tummy that shook like a big bowl of jelly, ur, candy. She made great use of a third pocket in her jacket. The best part was seeing Santa at the end, of course! 

Then it was back home to decorate our house and the beautiful tree Dad got that morning.  Ellie really got into the unpacking and was the master of all the lower branches. 

Evie was delighted to find this picture of her and Santa when she was only 3 months old. She looked like a little baby elf! 

Dad puts the angel on the tree, which would be the finishing touch if not for the train around the bottom of the tree!  Another successful tree decorating session.