Holidays 2016- Part 2

We had a lovely Christmas celebration! Here are some of the highlights in photos.

We got things started on Christmas Eve day with a cookie baking extravaganza. Iyla and I made batches of gingerbread, sugar, and chocolate chip cookies- she helped the ENTIRE time! She loves to bake with me, which is so sweet. Here we are modeling a tray of our gingerbread men:

Before bed, I told Iyla that it was time to leave a note for Santa. Here's what she wanted her note to say:

She picked out a special cookie and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer before heading up to bed:

I told Iyla that Santa only came when children were asleep, and with that she squeezed her eyes shut tight and said "I'm sleeping!" She was so excited.

I used a special "Catch Santa" app to record the big guy's visit to our home.

Before

After!

This was the scene that awaited Iyla upon waking:

She was so excited that Santa delivered on her new Rudolph stuffy toy!

Then it was time to get down to some serious present opening business. Iyla was so cute- the first couple of presents she opened she wanted to take out and play with for extended periods. It wasn't until an hour or two in that she got the memo that she could open ALL OF THE PRESENTS! Then it was like wildfire to unearth the rest of her loot.

While she opened gifts Eloise played it cool on the rug:

Iyla's doctor outfit & medical kit were a big hit. Here, she gives Rudolph a checkup:

I caught her in mid sentence explaining that he had a "hurt heart." That face!

She then proceeded to rock out with her new ukulele- an Austin girl through and through!

Eloise enjoyed new toys from Grandma:

And then of course I had to make the girls pose for some photos in their darling matching Christmas pajamas:

That afternoon it was time for a costume change, as we were hosting my family for Christmas Day dinner. Our dear friend Andy joined us, and he was kind enough to volunteer to cook up a Christmas feast for us all! It was incredible, complete with a roast chicken, ham, potatoes, carrots, peas, and brussels sprouts.

Andy's sister Sarah sent over some English cracker gifts for our table settings, which were a big hit!

Here, a couple cute photos of the girls and I. The 2nd shot is totally indicative of their personalities!

Iyla was quickly over the photo shoot- her faces are the best:

BC made my cousin Heather a Hankie the Christmas poo cookie (ew):

And Eloise was loved on by everyone:

Here was our best attempt at getting a shot of Iyla and Eloise with 2nd cousin Sammy:

And a few last photos of our Christmas Day festivities:

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!