Celebrating Christmas with Grammy

Due to the ridiculously high prices of airplane tickets this year, we figured we would not be celebrating the holidays with family.  However, Grammy Gayle was not going to let that happen, and when we told her we would not be traveling to California she said she understood and wanted to know if we would like her to come to us.  We jumped at the opportunity and Christmas got that much better.

For the first time we turned to the internet to track Santa's progress across the globe on Christmas Eve.  The girls were definitely interested in seeing just how fast Santa was traveling and how far he still had to go before he reached Lexington.  Fortunately they did not want to stay up all night watching his progress.  After church we checked on his progress a couple of times, put together a dish of cookies the girls had made with Grammy for Santa, and sprinkled the reindeer oat/glitter mix that Reese had made at school on the front lawn.  We were ready.

Christmas morning came quickly, but we are still very lucky in that the girls sleep in.  They are excited to see their gifts but not so excited that they skip out on their sleep.  Everyone wins.  Grammy Gayle wanted to see the morning craziness and Callie and Reese did not let her down.  Here they are snuggled inside one of the sleeping bags we gave them in preparation for numerous sleepovers to come.

One great thing about having Grammy there is that she had a front row seat while the girls opened the stocking she put together for them.  Grammy Gayle has a natural talent for stockings and the the girls loved the Frozen-themed everything that they pulled out of them.  Elsa, Anna, and Olaf are big hits in this house.

This picture highlights Sarah's excitement that the girls just went wild and showcases John's tolerance/self-control after receiving several reminders to just let it be and not clean up every second.  And like last year, Reese wanted to ensure chaos and went through the wrappings several times like it was like a pile of leaves on the front lawn.

Some of their gifts were put into action right away, including this cool coloring craft that they used to send messages to family and friends all over the country.  We needed to make sure that we wished folks from Connecticut to California a Merry Christmas, and the girls looked much cuter holding this sign than anyone else in our household.

We had another special treat on Christmas day when our dinner at the Chrismans included the Gipes.  The girls had their own special table where they enjoyed the fantastic meal, but even more importantly the four of them got to play together before, during, and after dinner.  What could be better than that?  And of course, the adults got to eat, drink, and be merry together, which is just as fun.

One of Grammy's gifts to the girls involved Build-A-Bear, which meant a post-Christmas day field trip to the mall so the girls could pick out the stuffed animal they wanted and of course an outfit to go with it.  Sarah, Grammy, and the girls got there relatively early, which was a good thing because clearly Grammy was not the only one who had thought of this idea.

After an enjoyable two hour adventure in the store, Reese left with a My Little Pony and Callie had a bear that giggles when you squeeze it.  The girls were delighted with their new stuffed animals but also loved the boxes that they got to carry them home in.  You have to give props to Build-A-Bear.  They understand all the little details that go into a fun experience.

We topped off the holiday experience with a trip to the movie theater to see the new incarnation of Annie.  This was Reese's first movie theater experience, and it is safe to say that she loved it.  However, we are not really sure if that was due to the movie or the tub of popcorn and M&M's that she appeared to be swimming in throughout the film.  Not a bad way to wrap up the holidays.