Christmas

The girls wanted to celebrate St. Lucia Day again this year. Because of the Nutcracker, we had to wait a week, but we went over to my parent's house and Marin and Bennett both read some St. Lucia facts. The girls were obsessed w/ the 12 days of Christmas song this year, so they also sang that. Then, Reese sang Away in a Manger.
AG Pet carriers from my brother's family.

a quick visit w/ cousins

We carried on a tradition w/ the girls that I used to do growing up. They are allowed to open what we call "sister gifts" on Christmas Eve night. All the other presents wait until Christmas morning. This year Marin also made gifts for everyone - including hairbows for Reese made out of napkins. Reese has been wearing them proudly.

Christmas day. We had a great, relaxed morning at home. My parents came over here in the morning to see what all the girls had gotten. Then, we went over to their house basically for all the afternoon and evening. Very relaxed and fun.

Christmas morning

Reese got the Rapunzel tower. You can't tell it from the picture, but it is 3 feet tall. She loves it. Actually, they all really liked all the presents each of them received, so they have been taking turns w/ everything. It has gone really well and I think they all feel like they actually got 9 presents instead of 3. :-)

Marin's new bike. Well, scratch what I just said. They aren't all playing w/ this gift. It has been quite a transition for her to go from pedal brakes to a bike w/ gears and hand brakes.