Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas we had. It was just the five of us, thankful to spend the day together as a family. The kids actually slept in until 7:00 (on my!) and then they opened stockings. We had a nice breakfast together of our favorite sweet rolls, eggs, sausage, and blueberries. Then the kids opened their presents under the tree. It was my idea of perfect present-opening. Nice and slow. They'd open a game and want to play it right away. Then Audrey opened a necklace-making kit and stopped to make one. Liam opened a dinosaur skeleton and wanted Dad to help him put it together right away. Ethan even got in on the action. So it was very nice. Then I took the big kids up to the school to sled. Very fun! They were quite adventurous on the big hill with a jump someone had made in the middle of it. Then we came home and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate the cake we'd made the day before (don't laugh at my cake decorating inability!!). Then Patrick took them out back to make a snow fort. We had a nice dinner together and then the kids watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer before bed.

We're still getting used to spending Christmas in Bellingham rather than Chelan. It's been fun to form family traditions of our own. I had a couple moments of wishing I was with my "big" family - the noise, the bustle, the laughs with siblings...the food made by Mom!! - but for the most part - I was quite content to be home.