Extended Family Christmas

First, we celebrated with Bryan's family:

Tricycles from Memaw and Datt!

Micah helping Ella

Memaw helping Emma

Then we celebrated with my family:

A big hug of thanks for our new tea set!

Emma and Belle

Ella and Belle

Having a tea party with Aleisha

We were very blessed this holiday season.  We are thankful to have such wonderful families, who love and care for us so much.  God has truly blessed us both here on this Earth, and most importantly through His Son, who offers us all eternal life!

Christmas Eve and Morning

Merry Christmas, Everyone!  We had a great Christmas this year.  Watching the girls' excitement was so much fun for Bryan and I.  Christmas truly is magical when you have two 2 year olds to celebrate with.

Emma and Ella got to open one present on Christmas Eve.

New Princess Jammies!  I was amazed at how much better they were at unwrapping the presents compared to their birthday, just 6 months ago.  They had no trouble with the wrapping paper at all.

Emma

Ella cracked us up by saying,
 "Oh My Goodness!"  after seeing what
several of her presents were.  

Emma showing off her new jammies.

Ella in her new jammies.

After getting changed we read The Night Before Christmas.

 And set out the cookies and milk for Santa.

It took Ella and Emma a very long time to go to sleep.  They were just so excited about the idea of Santa bringing them new toys.  We kept catching them peeking around the corner and giggling.  It was so sweet.  But they finally did give up.

"The children were nestled, all snug in their beds."

And Santa was finally able to come by for a visit.

Christmas morning was so much fun!!!  The girls were so excited about the presents under the tree, it took them some time to notice the large kitchen play-set beside the tree.  I set up the video camera for the opening of those presents and didn't take very many pictures, but I did get pictures of opening stockings.

Ella

Emma

 Then, after eating some sugar plums for breakfast, we opened the presents Aunt Clora Ann sent.

Ella and Emma had a great time playing with all their new toys.

It wasn't until later that we realized: only 1 of the presents Santa brought came in one piece.  Every other present had many, many pieces.

We had a very Merry Christmas and hope you did too!

How to Make Sugar Cookies

I thought it would be fun to have Emma and Ella help me make some Christmas sugar cookies.  I did not realize how much work and mess it would be.  But, we still had a good time.  (FYI- Ella is wearing the polka dots, and Emma is wearing the Elmo shirt.)

First, you roll out the dough:

Then, you cut out the cookies:

After Mommy has baked and iced them, add sprinkles:

Finally, Enjoy!

Curlers

Ella and Emma have a lot of natural curl in their hair, but by the end of the day, it starts to look a bit stringy.  So, I decided to try some sponge rollers in their hair.  They thought putting them in was fun, but wanted them back out before bed.  Overall, I thought they did a very good job of leaving them alone.  (Boy, this process brought back a lot of memories for me, but in my memories, I'm the one getting my hair rolled and being told to keep my head still.)  Their hair turned out nice and curly the next morning.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Ella watching TV and eating popcorn while getting
her hair rolled.

You look so cute, Ella!

Emma's turn.

Another precious girl in curlers.

Aren't we sweet!

Sisters having fun together.

Our New House!!!

SOLD

LOVE the huge tree in the front!

Beautiful back yard with a School House

We have moved!!! Yeah!!! We are so excited to be in our new house!  

This beautiful table, painted by my aunt, has
been in storage because we just didn't have
room for it.  The girls just love it.

The girls initiated it the 2nd day by coloring on the walls.

More beautiful wall art 

Ella

We were also able to get the dress up clothes out for the girls. They love playing princess now.

Chillin' in our dress-up clothes

Lots of fun leaves to play with in the backyard

Sleeping Beauties in their new room.
(Yes, they are sharing a bed because
they wouldn't have it any other way.)

We are very blessed to have lots of wonderful friends and family who showed up to help move us in.  They were such a blessing.  Thank you to all our helpers.  Now, let the unpacking commence.