Christmas - part 2

The trip from OH to IA went really well. Both the girls slept a lot. They were most likely trying to make up for not sleeping enough at night and playing extra hard with their cousins during the day.

Adrienne was happy to try her first french fry during the trip. In case you can't tell, she is a fan.

When Mom heard how much Morgan loved decorating for Christmas she decided to wait to decorate the tree until we got there. Of course Morgan loved helping decorate her third tree of the season. It was fun to see my brother Chris and his family while we were there. They even hosted us for an extra yummy breakfast and special viewing of The Little Mermaid. I think they were blown away by the fact that Morgan ate the most pancakes of anyone at the table. What can I say? My girl LOVES pancakes. We all enjoyed Chris' demonstration of the powers of the magic wand. He is truly a man secure in his manhood. :)

Morgan and Adrienne love Aunt Sandi. She has two boys and loves to shop for girl stuff. She will often come with things for the girls just because (hence the princess get up Chris is sporting). I'm sure she doesn't mind that they love her. :) Morgan and I put together a gingerbread kit. AKA I put most of it together while Morgan sampled the candy. She was entertained for a while decorating the snowmen.

The girls loved helping Mom in the kitchen any chance they got.

Once Mitch, Heidi and the boys made it from Goshen we had our family Christmas, starting with the reading of the Christmas story.

The girls both had a lot of fun with their gifts. Morgan got some crazy things to add to her dress up collection. Her cousin Tommy did a great job picking out her gifts!

This is Morgan's oldest cousin, Becca. If you have been following this blog for a while you may remember that Becca has taught Morgan some very important skills in this past year - how to collect candy at a parade, and how to catch fire flies are the two that come to mind right now.Our family has an interesting dynamics with the cousins. We have the "big" cousins and the "little" cousins. There were a lot of years that I'm sure Becca, Vince and Tommy were pretty bored as they were the only cousins. I don't think they would say they are bored now. They are all so good with the "little" cousins, and of course the "little" cousins think they are so great. We have a great time together and there is always plenty to laugh about. Our happy family on Christmas day.

We had crazy winter weather in IA too. It was a bit of a bummer since it meant that I didn't get a chance to see some of the people I was hoping to see. On the other hand it is kind of nice to be snowed in.

Before I knew it our week in IA was over. We had a great time with our family. However, Adrienne was not proving to be the best sleeper away from her own bed. I was thankful she was a happy baby during the day despite waking up far too many times at night. So as we started heading back to Goshen I couldn't help but look forward to sleeping in our own bed, and more importantly having Adrienne in her own bed. I was ready to sleep! Little did I know ...