The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Well, here it is- our marathon post to get kind of caught up. I guess this is my blogging style these days.

Christmastime was good to us. It has always been my favorite time of year, and it's even more so now with little ones.

We kicked off the season by going to Bass Pro Shops, the "fishy store", to see Santa. If you can't read it in the photo below, Sammie's letter says, "Dear Santa, I have been a good girl. I would like a new pair of tap shoes. Size 13. Thanks. I "heart" you. Bi. Sammie



This fireplace was so hot. I'm surprised that we got the girls to smile.



One of our traditions is going up to the temple in DC to see the lights. They don't compare to the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake, but are beautiful in their own way. It turned out to be a perfect night. No fighting, good moods, great music in the car, silly smiley baby-- it was just perfect.

Here's our little Izzie all bundled up.






The girls were making her laugh and squeal. Between that and Daddy tossing her around and flying like an airplane, we had one happy little Izzie and some great photo opps.



Giggly girls. (And boy.)



Look at how handsome my hubby is. Sammie is quite the budding photographer. Every time we dump our memory stick onto the computer, we find MANY random pictures taken from about 4 feet high. Hmmmm... I wonder who took those?



Making gingerbread houses.



This was our crazy week-before-Christmas snowstorm. I think we ended up with at least 18 inches. It's been decades since Richmond has seen that much snow. It was so fun because other than James having to work the night it was falling, we didn't have to go anywhere for a few days. We got to just stay home and snuggle up. (Don't mind the half naked child in the picture.)



When we found out the snow was coming, the girls and I threw up some icicle lights on the deck for fun. This picture was taken a couple hours into the storm.



Sammie, in her makeshift snow clothes. She was pretty wet when she finally came in, but didn't seem to care.



Lexie had been a little sick, so we stayed inside and watched Sammie and Daddy out the front window. We had many little girl giggles when they pelted the window in front of us with snowballs.



This was Christmas Eve with the girls in their new PJ's. Sammie is always trying to hold Izzie. She does a pretty good job, but Izzie generally hates it.



Even though this is not the most flattering picture of me, I love it because it's so classic. Izzie yanking on my hair, Lexie giggling at Izzie, and Sammie oblivious to it all and posing for the camera.



Our happy family.



You all recognize this. The classic Christmas morning photo on the stairs.



Sammie with her new buddies, Geoffrey the giraffe, and one of her new Willy the whales.



We had such a great Christmas season. Despite all getting sick (we're almost better), we had a lot of great family time which, I think, is the best part of the season.