First Christmas at home

Ahhhhhh.... the joy of not traveling!

Here is the snow that fell a few days before Christmas.

Not only was it lovely, we were free to enjoy it because we didn't have to worry about weather conditions on the Thruway. Hooray!!!!!

Here is Christmas morning under our own Christmas tree.

Molly came into our bedroom the first time around 4:30 a.m. and I'm not sure she ever got back to sleep. Kate woke up at 5:15 and that's when I was up for the day. I snuggled in bed with Molly while Kate snoozed in her crib a bit. I was grumpy but that turned out to be the best part of the day for me, lying in the dark listening to Molly's non-stop monologue about how quiet the reindeer must have been because she didn't hear anything on the roof, and what are those gray birds at grandma's bird feeder are called? and on and on.

When we finally let the kids downstairs around 6, Molly wanted to hit the stockings first. I'm pretty sure she was expecting loads of candy, which Santa didn't bring (maybe he knew there was still pinata candy in the cupboards). But there was enough in there to keep the kids occupied while Jim made French toast and sausage.

They opened presents slowly all morning.

Then we finally got dressed and headed over to Grandma's house for a big family Christmas.

We thought we were coming home early enough that the girls could play with their toys a little before bed, but both zonked out in the car and didn't wake up when we carried them to bed. The house was quiet by 5:30!!! All the better for Mom and Dad to catch up on some rest, too. What a lovely Christmas day!