It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We had our first family Christmas tonight and it was such a fun day!  Before everyone arrived I asked Carys to help me clean.  Her version of cleaning involves making a giant mess and then putting two things away.  Baby steps...that's better than nothing, right!

   

And yes, I put her in this crazy outfit - I pulled out everything she has that is Christmas-y and put it all on!  Next year, I may need to step it up a little in the holiday apparel department.

My sister, nephews and mom all came over early in the day, so we could hang out while the guys were working, and we quickly got to work ourselves making some sweet treats.    

Of course, lots of silliness ensued, but eventually we managed to assemble something that resembled the cute,  tiny village on the box.  I can't say that every house had the correct number of walls (and one may be missing a roof, that we decided would be the open air theater), but in the end we were pretty proud of our sweet little village! Oh, and in case you are wondering, "Yes, it's all eat-able" at least according to Tyler.

The tall white one is the theater - the entire left side is missing open.

And no cookie village is complete without a tall glass of milk to wash it all down, so Travis and Tyler are wondering....

Got Milk? 

Unfortunately, Carys missed the crazy, cookie village party because she was napping.  Probably a good thing though because we would have been missing a lot more of our "materials" if she was around.  I swear the only candy that child has had is a dum-dum sucker, but somehow she has learned to quickly identify all varieties, and is not happy (to say the least) when she's told she can't have any! 

She was super happy to wake up and see that her cousins were still here though - she loves playing with them!

She was also really excited to see that there were quite a few more presents under the tree.  

Shortly after her nap, Daddy, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Dave, Great Grandma and Bumpa arrived and we had dinner and opened presents.

Visiting with Great Grandma

Trying to steal the candy canes off the top of the boys' gift.

Opening her first present 

The family representing the "D"

Lovely pot holder Uncle Kevin!

Boys with Bumpa

And last, but not least, our elusive family photo.

We had a great day, it was so fun to hang out with my family and it's even better to watch Carys playing so hard and having such a good time.  I'm looking forward to every moment of this season, and so very thankful that the Reason for this magical Christmas time has so greatly blessed our family.  

Wishing you the JOY and PEACE of the season that only comes from HIM!

Merry Christmas!