Merry Christmas!

Christmas time is always so special. We got into the spirit the day after Thanksgiving and put up the Christmas decorations and Christmas music. Caroline loves to decorate! She was thrilled to put up stockings and look at her ornaments. Little Romney got into the excitment as well, but seemed to make more of a mess then decorate!
This year we wanted to try something new, so we invited some little friends over to make ginger bread houses. I found a ginger bread recipe so we decided to try it out. To my surprise it worked and our home smelled so good! The kids had fun decorating and eating.
We visited Santa's Wonderland again this year to see all of the millions of lights. We took a hayride through the lights and enjoyed some hot chocolate and popcorn. We even saw Santa, but everyone was a little nervous to sit on his lap.
For Christmas Eve we invited friends over for dinner and games. We kept things international again and had some Australians over (the Hardwicks) to eat along with our good friends the Drakes. We tried out some new recipes for dinner and ate until we were stuffed. Afterwards, we popped some English crackers and acted out the nativity. Caroline wanted to be the donkey and little Romney was kind of a wise man when he felt like it. It turned out to be a very eventful nativity as Joseph tried to ride the donkey and Mary pulled a doll out of her dress upon hearing that she "brought forth her first son". It was a special night and made so much more memorable because of good friends.
Christmas Day was finally here! Caroline and Romney III were excited to see bikes and Hot Wheels and a Glow board! We listened to music and opened our presents and had the traditional Christmas Quiche with cinnamon rolls. Afterward, we were able to talk to every member of our families!! It was good to hear them and share a little of this special day with them. It was the first year that we would not be traveling home at some point in the holiday season. We miss everyone and look forward to seeing everyone soon.