NYE!

Santa stopped here!   ...and he brought bikes and sleds and snowblocks and more!

Allie especially loved the fairy lights she received and couldn't WAIT to get them up in her room.  I have a feeling she's going to be spending much more time up there.  She also really liked the new book Care and Keeping of You...she's excited about all the new changes she's going to learn about as she grows up!

Ayden couldn't wait to get outside and play with his new snowblock...Santa brought SNOW too!

And of course these new wheels were a hit!!  We cleared the hallway and the kids rode laps around the kitchen all day long...or at least until we headed to Nana's (in our Christmas jammies) for a yummy dinner she prepared.  It's been a few years since we've spent Christmas at home and the kids just loved being able to absorb all their new gifts...the love, joy and excitement was surely felt this Christmas.  We are blessed with happiness and health.

A Covid Christmas Eve.

Our Christmas Eve. celebrations lasted all day long!  We started the morning with Papa Ray visiting to enjoy some hot cocoa and Christmas cookies.  

Then Nana came over for some food and fun opening presents.  Ayden was thrilled with his ew Star Wars goodies...Baby Yoda doll and the Lego Kylo Ren Shuttle were his favorite things from Nana!  Allie was ecstatic about her new wireless earbuds!!

We sprinkled the reindeer food all over outside so they would be sure to make stop here with Santa tonight.  The long awaited moment of hugging and touching our elves finally arrived....Ayden asked ALL DAY if her could!  We were instructed to leave Brownie and Cocoa by the fireplace as well (apparently last year they had a really hard time saying goodbye).  The milk and cookies are all set...now we TRY and fall asleep.  Today was a lovely Covid Christmas Eve.

 

Elf'n Around

Our two houseguests had us on their toes this year.  Ayden was so happy every morning waking up to  search for the elves...his hunt even made him late to his zoom school on occasion.  Some of our favorite memories of Jingle and Belle was seeing how much toilet paper they would waste and play with, reading their messages, and finding which toys they liked to play with best.

Gingerbread Houses

Although this year seemed a little bit different building our house...we are so thankful we were still about to get together for our annual tradition with family!  The kiddos had their very own tray of candies and icing to design and create their houses...or in Ayden's case, his airport complete with a runway.  Both of the little designed and built their own houses.  Allie built her twice because it was accidentally sat on...oops!  But, it turned out just perfect in the end. 

Santa's Shed

A couple days ago we wrote elf sized letter to Santa with our Christmas lists.  What a surprise we found this morning!  Our lists have return to hang on our tree and a invitation to visit Santa himself...in his SHED!

So off we went after school!  What a quaint and magical little shed Santa has for himself, right here in MI.  He shared stories about the only elf at the North Pole that has a pool, how the reindeer fly from north to south to north again all night long on Christmas Eve., and about the magic of coal and how it turns to diamonds...eventually.  We also learned that there is not a bad list, only a good and you can move your way up and down the list with acts of kindness or bad behavior.  

Our visit was a special one this season.