Merry Christmas!

Christmas was peaceful this year. We all came down with a nasty cold about a week and a half before Christmas. I was hit pretty hard. It's never nice to be sick, however, it forced us all to be home together (the girls and I since school was out). It became a week of cleaning and organizing, we all enjoyed each other's company, and we all relaxed. It was a blessing in disguise. We were all well by Christmas eve and were able to attend church. Which was extra special because we had a few friends join us.

Caylin is very proud to be able to do her own hair, and creative to add a bow to her shirt also. I figured she looked a little like Cindy Lou Who and was dressed festive to go out Christmas Eve day like this. :)

After church we went to my dad's and had a relaxing evening. We were home early and all the girls crashed right away.

Caylin woke first at 6:30am and gathered the rest of the household. Oh how I love puffy morning faces (ha, not my own however), and Anika's crazy morning do's. Stockings are always fun, we take turns watching each other opening. Anika found some silly putty in her stocking and immediately grew attached, she held it like a little baby and didn't put it down. She refused any other gift for about 30 minutes. She finally put her "baby" to bed and moved on to more gifts.

The little girls were given new guitars from mimi and decided to wake the neighborhood playing them out front singing "Lessed Be the Name of the Lord" while daddy went out to pick up the crab and Aiana plugged in her new Dance Dance Revolution game.

As tradition goes, when dad got home with the crab he set them out on the lawn while the girls poked at them. We had 9 crabs covering our front lawn! Caylin came out ready to help dad with boots and oven mit on.

The rest of the day was spent with family, relaxing, laughing, and eating. What a great gift to be able to enjoy this all.

Cookie fun

After hosting a cookie party, I was completely cookied out. But we had fun with our friends and learned yummy new recipes. I took a couple recipes and exchanged regular flour with gluten free flour and they turned out pretty tasty. Of course the texture always changes, but I enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to playing around with more recipes now that Anika is older and I do have a little more time on my hands, or at least she's able to help with out completely destroying the kitchen. My gluten/soy/dairy free world is becoming a little more exciting.

My favorite recipe was a Cranberry Orange cookie from Eating Well...but I dont think I can eat another one until next Christmas!

Nativity

We had such a good time at Horizon's Nativity festival. It was such an awesome event with live animals and scenes throughout showing the story of Jesus' birth. The kids had a blast with all the different booths making crafts, seeing animals, yummy food. What a fun night!

Christmas recitals and Santa

Caylin had her last pre-school Christmas recital (sniff sniff, since next year she'll be off to kindergarten). So cute to watch her happy little face up on stage.

And also her first dance recital with the new dance studio. She was super excited to have mom, dad, mimi, and grandpa all there to watch!

After the recital, my mom and I took the girls to the mall for a train ride and to see Santa. Caylin was excited to see Santa, she had no problem talking to Santa about what she wanted for Christmas. Anika on the other hand wasn't too keen on sitting on some strangers lap. However, as soon as Santa offered a candy cane she was up for giving him a high five.

Visit with Grandma

We had a wonderful visit with Grandma Airdrie. We wished she could have stayed longer. The girls enjoyed lots of play time and story time. :)

Airdrie and I were able to sneak away for an evening to attend the Christmas tea at Horizon.

Disneyland

We had a fantastic time at Disneyland last week. This visit was extra special because my brother and his family went with us. The teens got to run around and do their own thing and the little girls were so happy to be with eachother they didn't even ask about princesses at all!

Anika's first time on the tea pots.

yummy pickle!

Caylin turned into a different person after getting this lipstick put on!

Big squeezes for dad

Getting ready for the parade

I sure hope this guy didn't mind that I told the girls he was santa!...and asked to take a photo with him!

I love Disneyland at Christmastime!