Christmas 2015: Food, Fun, and Family

Even though our 2015 visit with Santa Claus didn't go so well (there's less hostility between Obama and Putin), the jolly old fellow still came through for us this year.

There is a certain magic in having little ones to celebrate with on Christmas day.  

 Seeing those little faces light up when they discover their dream gift has become a reality is so rewarding.  So is Mother Hen's compulsive need to properly dispose of gift wrap immediately upon opening a gift!  (Check our Instagram for more on this).

 Despite her disdain for Santa, Lydia seemed to warm up to the idea of Christmas pretty quickly!

 Christmas donuts will likely become a new tradition around here, as well!  

 Even though our beautiful, white Christmas threatened to disrupt air travel, YaYa and Papa arrived right on time! 

 The fun started all over again with more gifts and attention for our little crew!

 To the girls delight, they were joined by Cousin Abby at the breakfast table the next morning.  The girls couldn't have been any more thrilled if Taylor Swift, herself, appeared in the kitchen.  Cousin Abby is the coolest!

 Abby came bearing some incredibly thoughtful gifts that the girls just adored, including everyone's favorite: books!  Sweet Abby even read to the girls before bed.  

 Another important Christmas tradition we have with the adults in Travis' family is a gift exchange in which we draw numbers and select a gift which we can keep or exchange for another gift.  The spending limit is $20 and the creativity abounds.  It truly is tons of fun! 

 I mean, really, who doesn't want their very own selfie stick?!  YaYa's reaction rivaled Merryn's when she saw her Barbie Dream House!  You are strongly urged to head back over to Instagram to see a photo featuring all of our treasures (click here).

 Food, fun, and laughter are elements we can count on when we're with family...

 ...and a perfect photo of the granddaughters posed and smiling!  Ha!  Just kidding!  

I tried!  We all tried!  Oh well, reality is more fun than perfection, right?  Thank you to Travis' wonderful family for flying across the country to join us in celebrating Christmas 2015!  It was a blast!