Christmas 2011

Wow, I can't believe Christmas is already over! This season has just flown by. We had such a great month doing lots of different things to celebrate. We had parties, went to see lights, went to shows, and more. The girls had such a good time doing everything. I just loved watching their little faces light up with everything we did. Lewis was able to have 8 days off to celebrate Christmas with us (a perk of this assignment) We spent it alone with NO visitors which is really weird because we ALWAYS have visitors. We really enjoyed our quiet family time together :) We have some great friends here that we celebrated with on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner. (Unfortunately we don't have pictures of these things....I forgot my camera :()  We really have been blessed with the friends that we have found here. One thing that I was NOT prepared for was all the questions!! Mackenzie is a very smart little girl and she was VERY curious how EVERYTHING worked. She asked if Santa was real....I explained to her that he is and after about 50 questions she stopped asking. Then she looked me dead in the eye and said...Mommy, are you lying to me? I of course said no.....but the guilt was killing me. She also didn't believe that our Elf on the Shelf was real so she touched him without telling me (but I heard her tell Riley) so the Elf disappeared because if you touch him he losses his magic. After he returned Mackenzie started believing in him. Next year should be fun...I will be more prepared for sure. I just didn't think that a 5 year old would question whether Santa was real. Anyways, here are some pictures of all of our fun activities.



My annual Christmas cookie exchange!



Friends :)

more friends :)

Silly Girls!

Looking at lights at the chocolate factory.

We took the girls to see a Christmas show on the strip.

Mackenzie's card she made for her teacher.

The LOOT!!

Singing on her microphone that Santa brought.

She now has a peace sign room!

Little pet shops!!

Riley has not stopped cleaning :)

Breakfast on Christmas morning (thanks pinterest)

Christmas party that Mackenzie and her friend Tatum planned.  It was really funny how excited they were!  We just ate dinner and played but it was FUN!

peace sign slippers from Tatum!

Minnie Mouse umbrella from Marley :)

Tatum spent the night for the first time...they had a blast!!