Christmas Eve

Following in the tradition Dave grew up with, we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve and shared a special dinner. We had a lovely night and want to especially thank our family for all the thoughtful gifts! Every single thing you picked out for us was a hit! All the toys, games and books have been played with and read multiple times. Right now, Ella is doing new crafts. Dave is wearing Christmas clothes from Heather today, I took my sewn-by-orphans-in-Honduras clutch to church and we just LOVE everything!

.

Ella got a new big-girl bathrobe.

Delia got a moving Shamu toy and trainer.

Dave and I decided to skip gifts for each other this year and instead put some money in the home repair fund. We hope 2010 brings us new carpet! We still helped the girls pick out small gifts, though. Ella and Delia gave me scarves and socks and gave Dave a pomegranate tree.

Baby Cole sent his monkey of a cousin a stuffed monkey. Delia slept with this new favorite animal and was too cute when she trudged out of bed still cuddling him this morning.

Auntie Heather sent stuff for the dollhouse. These neat box sets have pieces for dinner, birthday party and taking care of pets.

After we gave Too Many Toys to a friend we had to put it on our own wish list. Thanks, Uncle Kyle! Kyle's gifts were special because they each came with a poem ("Joy to the World, Christmas has come. But with so many toys, can you have too much fun?")



For Christmas last year Dorina gave me a "Secret in the Sauce" cookbook, a compilation of authentic Italian recipes from her mom's side of the family. For our special family Christmas Eve dinner I tried two things I totally love, but have never made on my own before-- cannelloni and tiramisu. They turned out great!
.
I have to just add that a meaningful new addition to present opening this year was the homemade or gift-in-kind gifts we did with Dave's siblings. We did this to give gifts that showed true thought. We were so blessed with the neat little things Kyle and Kris picked out specifically for us. Karen's gift was an email telling us about the trip she's making to CA this year! The one cloud over our Christmas was that our family in Chicago never got our big box of gifts this year. It's been too long since mailing to hope that they're not lost. I'm not even as bummed about the cash value of the gifts inside-- more about the hours we put into baking and crafting our special homemade gifts. Lesson learned: buy the insurance!