O, Holy Night

Sitting down for the big Christmas post with peppermint (schnapps) mocha in hand, Christmas tree(s) glowing, snow on the ground outside, fondue bubbling on the stove...Christmas music blaring through the speakers...

The festivities started on Christmas Eve Eve at Vicki's house for lasagna and presents.  As usual I completely stunk at taking pictures and only got a few blurry iPhone ones :(  What we lacked in pictures, the kids made up for in presents!  We've got zooming cars, talking books, and comfy jammies coming out our ears over here.  We could stop now and I'd call this Christmas a success!

Christmas Eve morning we met up with Hadley's BFF's (Sofia & Junie) to exchange gifts.  Sofia, the fashionista, got the girls matching pink high tops (fur lined, adorable) while Hadley opted for matching pink cell phones so they can call each other any time they want.  Junie, the artsy one, of course out did us all and gave the girls homemade dolls fashioned after the 3 of them...how precious are they?!

Christmas eve our little family of four took a mini holiday hiatus to gear up for Christmas tomorrow.  We had each kid open one present and played until bedtime, Here's Hads opening her one present (picture her holding up 1 finger and saying "Just one." :)  

And, tada! It's her very own stroller!  She had 'Junie & Sofia' strapped in there in no time.

We got all snuggled in Christmas jammies and waited for the big guy to arrive....

...At which point mom & dad cooked up a big old fondue dinner (our Swiss tradition that I hope will never, ever die) -- potatoes, french bread, cornichons, apples and the like all dipped in steaming hot Swiss cheese; and watched Bad Santa.  A Christmas tradition that I always question during the first 10 minutes of the movie, but then can't seem to stop as year after year it has us in stitches. 

Christmas morning arrived and sausage, hash browns, eggs, mimosas & cinnamon rolls (sorry, Ange, not the homemade kind - I'll leave those to you) were on the menu.  We opened the first present at 7:30am and once Hadley had gone through the first few she declared herself 'all done' and it took until after noon to get through the remainder!  I think we could say her stocking stuffer (a 10 pack of lip smackers) had her just about satisfied:

Jameson was happy with just his stocking:

Once we were done with our mini Christmas, we all took naps (God, I love it when both kids nap at the same time) and woke up to head over to Vicki's for prime rib...I finally got pictures!  Hallelujah!

Andy, Hadley, Wyatt, Ryan & Michelle playing Hungry Hippo:

My adorable niece Roslyn (9.5 months):

Ros & her daddy

Great Grandpa Boldman (Vicki's Dad) with Jameson & Andy

Great Grandpa B with Jame

Poppa Bruce with Jameson

And that's all folks!  I know next year is going to be extra special since I think both kids will be closer to 'getting it', and while I don't want this year to fly by by any means, I am really looking forward to next Christmas season!

Happy Holidays, all!