A Merry Little Christmas

We're nearing the end of our Christmas festivities. And for the most part it was wonderful! We are so incredibly blessed and know that we owe all our good fortune to the goodness of a loving Heavenly Father.

We celebrated Christmas 2010 differently than we ever have: just our little family. While we missed being around our relatives, it was such a joy just spending the holiday in our home with our children.
Christmas Eve we decided to brave the holiday madness and visit Santa Claus at the mall. I know, we're crazy. But it was quite fun! With the pressure of "shopping" off, we enjoyed meeting Santa. You guys, this is a big deal. Kate has never even entertained the thought of sitting on Santa's lap. But this man was really nice and Kate was brave.
Dylan joined in, and was less than enthused by the whole thing. He's just such a chill baby (usually) so sitting on a bearded man's lap didn't really phase him.

Also? It finally seemed a lot like Christmas weather-wise. Yay! Christmas Eve was chilly and rainy, which made my spirits soar. It wasn't exactly the White Christmas Mike was secretly hoping for (yeah... don't hold your breath) but it was lovely.
And that morning we got some great news about our family member who was sick and in the hospital. She was able to go home on Christmas Eve, and we were so thrilled with that turn of events. A Christmas miracle! I'll share more details when I get the green light to do so.

That evening, Mike and I made a delicious Christmas dinner.
The menu:
Honey ham with apricot and brown sugar glaze
Mike's famous cheesy sour cream potatoes
Crisp green peas
Homemade rolls
Homemade hot fudge sundaes for dessert

After dinner we read from Luke 2, while Kate and I "acted out" the story using her Little People Nativity set. We also watched a video on the birth of Christ. Kate was understandably wired at the prospect of Santa's visit, so it wasn't the reverent experience I was hoping for, but fun just the same.
Then Kate sprinkled reindeer food outside on our patio, so Santa would know where to stop.

Kate and Dylan posed for a pre-bedtime picture in their new Christmas jammies.

And Mike read the children a classic Christmas Eve story... this book is mine from when I was a baby. Love it!

It took the kids 2.5 seconds to fall asleep, and Santa came and went before 9 p.m. Yay!
It looked so beautiful.
The only problem is I didn't get pictures of the "string" that Santa left for Kate. But trust me, it was there.

Christmas morning!
Santa left Dylan an adorable rocking horse. And dress-up stuff for Kate.

Kate was so excited to give Mike his gift of silly glasses.

And while we missed having Kramer around (it nearly broke my heart to pull out his stocking) we got a cute "replacement". Dylan was quite enamored.

After the presents, we made the traditional Christmas breakfast including the Grady/Petty family Christmas Carol Rolls. This was my first time baking them, and I think they turned out fabulously yummy. Unfortunately, Dylan got sick during the night, so we spent this morning at Urgent Care. The diagnosis: ear infection. Poor little guy. Hope we can get this all cleared up in time for my parents and brother to fly in. They're coming for a visit this week and we are so excited to see them!!!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.