Merry Christmas '11!

Merry Christmas! Whew - where did that year go?! It went by so quickly that our November and December seemed positively frenzied. But all of the hard holiday work was worth it and we found ourselves happy to enjoy A.'s third and E.'s first Christmas at home. But first there was our annual Flemming's Christmas Eve dinner, which had us cleaned up and dressed to our nines. As we headed out, we made cookie deliveries to dear and appreciated neighbors, addressing them from "The Elves".

A. really caught on to the tradition of opening presents.

And she enjoyed our almost-daily December read of The Night Before Christmas, especially the actual night before Christmas when Uncle R. read it to her.

And we can't leave out A.'s request that we leave Santa milk and cookies (she suggested celery, too, but I forgot!) and his reindeer apples, water, and carrots. He reciprocated with a fun load of extra-specially chosen  gifts for A. and E.

E. kind of woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Baby emotions do not discriminate among the days of the week, let alone holidays. But she did enjoy playing with toys (as did sister A.!).

Christmas Day, after the excitement of opening gifts concluded, M. made the best-ever roasted chicken, which we enjoyed with potatoes, roasted carrots and roasted brussel sprouts and stuffing. I think this particular meal may have to become a tradition as well.

We hope you and yours had a lovely and warm holiday season. Every year I look forward to the lights, the music, traditions, new practices. And then when it's all over, I'm a bit relieved. I've learned in recent years that this time of year is hard work for the mamas. But as I said above, it was all worth it.