Christmas

We had such a wonderful little Christmas this year.  It helped to have Ned & Julianne around.  We didn't feel quite so 'far away'.  As always, the day was preceded by a few dozen trips to the store (or the BX in our case).  My family usually does Bratwurst and Sauerkraut on Christmas Eve, but with all of the Christmas Markets we had been going to, we had all had our fill of Brats.  So we opted for a traditional Larson meal of Ham and Cheesy Potatoes.  No one complained about that ;).  And, of course, chocolate cheesecake for dessert.  Yum.  We even managed to pull of the nativity without too much whining or chaos.  Nathan used the beloved Horse Mask to play his role of the donkey.  We had to heavily persuade Violet to play Mary.  And Isla was not very happy about being placed in a basket.  But we had some good laughs and even got the message across (mostly).  With the kids all tucked into bed, we didn't have too much preparation left (a true Christmas Miracle!).  Christmas morning did not disappoint.  The kids were adequately spoiled and we all had a great day in our pajamas!  We got in as much relaxation as possible so that we would be ready for another week of sight seeing!

My mom has made all of our Christmas Stockings.  I think it was a couple of weeks before Christmas when she realized that Isla didn't have one yet.  Like the wonder (crazy) woman she is ;)...she went to town sewing little Isla Bea her stocking and it arrived right before Christmas!  Another Christmas Miracle!  And we love the little 'Bee' for our Isla Bea.

I was truly amazed by Grandma's Christmas Balloon Creations.  Amazing. Santa was my favorite!

My iPhone got run over by a shopping cart before Thanksgiving.  The screen was shattered, but still functional.  For Christmas I got a screen replacement.  Here is my techy husband replacing the screen for me.  He always just figures these things out.  It amazes me.