Elliott and Holly: December and Christmas 2012

We started out the month of December with a visit to Santa at Macy's in downtown Portland. Elliott loved it, Holly was scared motionless. We got so lucky that Macy's was basically empty when we showed up. Elliott sat with Santa for probably 5 minutes, it was very sweet. Holly just stared at Santa and hardly moved when we put her on his lap. She is normally so outgoing that it was funny to see her so timid.

On a Sunday in early December we drove out to Sauvie Island to cut down our tree. We had found a tree farm there last year and wanted to go back because it was so nice. We failed. It was closed on Sunday. Because it was getting close to Holly's nap we stopped at a tree lot in North Portland. The kids had fun decorating the tree and setting up for Christmas. Elliott is interested in ornaments but usually does a pretty good job of not taking too many off the tree. He was mostly interested in the Portland Trail Blazer candy cane ornaments and would take those off to play with. When he was a baby I got a felt ornament kit and we hung those on the bottom so that Holly could touch them but not cause any damage. She did well with the tree and while she did take ornaments off it wasn't that bad. She's only 1, so it's what I expected. Every morning she would be thrilled to watch me turn on the lights. She would point to the plug and clap her hands once they came on.

Dan and Elliott made Toffee twice this December!! How did I get so lucky? This is the second time they were making it. Elliott really likes to help in the kitchen and enjoyed sprinkling on the chocolate chips and the sliced almonds. We brought this toffee to the Ugly Sweater holiday party our friends host every year. Elliott and Holly spent the night with Nana and Papa...yay!

We had taco dinner on Christmas Eve at Dan's parents house. We opened presents there and they kids were so excited.

Holly loves the new baby doll she got from Nana Jane

On Christmas morning the kids slept in until 7:45 - not too shabby! We went upstairs and checked out what Santa had left in their stockings. Some santas went a little wild this year ;) Dan's parents and Grandma came up to have breakfast and watch the kids.

Elliott went to Build-A-Bear to make something for Holly. He was super excited to give it to her.

We relaxed a bit at home then headed to Wilsonville to let Holly nap while Christmas dinner was prepared. After dinner we drove out to my sister, Sarah's, house for dessert. The girls were so excited to tell us what Santa had brought them. Brooke loves Holly and will scoop her up the minute we walk in the door. Thankfully Holly seems to love her right back.

Grace and Elliott play twister

Yay for a relaxing day on December 26th!!

On the 27th we celebrated Christmas yet again! This time with my family. Amy and Jake and the boys were in Sacrament for Christmas this year so we celebrated a few days late. Three days later we all got together again to celebrate Paige's 2nd Birthday. Whew, it's a busy month!