Sunday, December 31, 2017

Christmas Part 4

Yesterday we went up to Grandmom and Grandpa's for our final celebration. Naturally, the day started with presents under their beautiful tree:

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Then we had a lovely brunch,

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followed by some football, and closer inspection of aforementioned presents.

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(everyone got a turn on the stilts, including the photographer, even if it was a little too tricky for a selfie!)

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And we finished our evening with a delicious dinner together. Thank you, Grandmom and Grandpa, for a really special day.

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(And today we got the big present blown up!)

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Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Christmas Day

Christmas morning came nice and not TOO early this year. The girls were up at about their normal time, and had some fun opening a couple presents under their upstairs tree while we waited for the rest of the house to get up and ready.

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Everyone was in good spirits, even the animals, who got extra love this year, which is all they ever really wanted, anyway.

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The girls got new suitcases this year, Santa knew we were headed to Disney World!

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And Sabine got her FurReal Tiger, as requested,

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and Aspen got her Ariel doll.

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(The rest of us got some presents and lots of love, too!)

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The girls also got Hatchimals, which the adults got to help "hatch." (Playing with the egg until the animal starts breaking out.)

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We got our annual cousin calendar, hand-delivered this year! We all enjoy any present that involves pictures.

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The Hatchimals finally hatched,

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and they joined us at breakfast, providing lots of entertainment throughout the meal.

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The girls changed into their Christmas dresses, and we all spent the rest of the morning enjoying all their spoils.

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Sabine got nail polish and hair chalk from Aunt Dani, and promptly set up a salon. There was a queue, but Aspen was first in line!

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(waiting for toenail polish to dry with her wolf from the Wulffs!)

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Once everyone was sufficiently decorated, Grandmom and Grandpa had to head home, and we got cleaned up once again for the arrival of Nana, Aunt, Dani, and the cousins! They arrived with their new drones in tow.

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Everyone had a good time flying them...until one took off on its own! We came back inside after that, but fortunately it gave everyone a chance to run around outside.

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We had a good dinner together,

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followed by a round of Sabine's new game, Telestrations. That was a hoot, and a perfect way to end a lovely holiday with our loved ones.

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Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas Eve

Since Tom and Suzanne came to celebrate Christmas with us this year, the girls decided to go get manicures together to look nice and festive on Christmas Eve!

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The snow also stopped, so Suzanne and Tom won "Visitors of the Year" and helped the girls shovel the whole sidewalk in front of our house.

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Grandmom and Grandpa came down in the afternoon to help us get ready, and to have dinner together.

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After dinner, the girls got to open one gift each, and they decided to open the ones that Grandmom and Grandpa brought. Sabine got holiday decorations for her dollhouse,

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and Aspen got an Elsa crown!

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After dinner, the girls managed to get the Norad website up with Grandpa's help, and started tracking Santa. Once he got across the Atlantic and into South America, we decided he was getting close, so the girls went to bed. The adults weren't too far behind...!

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Saturday, December 23, 2017

Christmas Part I and II

We had our first Christmas celebration at Aunt Diane and Uncle Nat's!

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Our second Christmas celebration was at Aunt Dani and Nana's house with the cousins, Aunt Dani cooked a lovely meal, and the kids were spoiled rotten, as always!

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As a bonus Christmas present, cousins Tom and Suzanne showed up from the east coast to join us for dessert at the end of the evening! They brought the snow with them for a white Christmas!