Christmas Day

I love Christmas.

It is even more fun ,now that I am a mom, to try and make it special for my girls, especially Miriam as she is getting older and understanding more.

The best part of the day was when she came out in the morning and saw the table and chairs and said "oh wow!"

That made it all worth it.

Unloading the stocking with dolls from her favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Eliza was so happy to watch all the excitement and play with her new Minnie Mouse blankie from Nana.

Miriam loved the squeaky ducks from Oma.

Stan loved his new tablet (Toshiba Thrive) from Santa.  He was not expecting it!

And I loved my new electronics, a blu-ray burner for the computer and a wireless camera monitor for the girls' room.

A few more of the gifts...

Miriam's first Barbie doll.

The girls in their new pajamas, thanks Nana!

We went to church for a mostly musical Sacrament meeting, which was very nice (a little long though, 1 hour 45 minutes).  I was able to sing a duet, "Oh Hush Thee My Baby," with a sister in our ward.

We were a little rushed getting to church so I only remembered to snap a shot of Eliza in her Christmas dress before the girls got changed.

We then went down to my Dad's house for a delicious lunch AND the big reveal.

My sister Jody who has been trying to get pregnant for over 6 years was finally able to get pregnant through a successful IVF procedure last August.  She just had her ultrasound the Monday before Christmas, and since they were flying home to visit the family for Christmas, she decided to wait to tell the family the gender of the baby until Christmas Day.

The color of the filling in the cake reveals the gender...

It's a girl!  

Jody and I have been best friends since we were kids so I am beyond excited for her to finally have a child of her own.  Especially a baby girl!  I'm hoping my girls will be best friends with Baby Girl Smith.

The rest of the day we played games, ate food, skyped with my sister Anna who couldn't make it home, ate more food, played games and ate more food.

It was a yummy day.

One of the reasons I love hanging out with family is that Eliza gets passed around and held a lot.  Here she is chilling with Uncle Tony.

My family draws names for the siblings and in-laws.  My sister-in-law Meredith drew my name and is so crafty, always finding new ideas online for things to make.  She found instructions on how to make yo-yos and made this quilt for me--BY HAND! 

 I can only imagine all the hours she spent making this, and isn't it beautiful?!

Another wonderful Christmas!