Christmas 2010

We have had such a nice Christmas this year, and we have all been quite spoiled! We started our Christmas celebration two weeks ago with a trip to see my family in South Carolina. We enjoyed our week there very much. We were able to see many people and spend a lot of time relaxing . I went to a cookie exchange with my sister and was able to see several friends from high school. I made more of the peppermint marshmallows, but this time, I dipped the tops in chocolate and sprinkled them with crushed candy canes. This is the container of cookies I brought home from the party. While we were in SC, we also got to have lunch with some dear friends, we got to attend the Christmas concert at my parents' church (and hear my dad's choir sing), and I got to go with my sister to pick up her wedding dress! We celebrated Christmas with my family on December 19th, our final night there.

Nora and her fiance, Topher

We came home on December 20th and had a few days to get settled back in and finish preparing for Christmas. We celebrated Christmas with Jim's side of the family on Christmas Eve and Jim's sister's house. Drew got lots of Buzz Lightyear presents!

Drew loves to play with his cousin, Danny, who is only two months older than Drew is.

One of Drew's favorite gifts was a pair of Buzz wings. He wore them all evening - even on the toilet!

We did some baking this week after we returned from our trip. I made four pans of cinnamon rolls for friends and neighbors.

Drew and I also made some sugar cookies.

Drew was in charge of rolling the tops of the cookies in the sugar.

We left some cookies and milk by the tree for Santa on Christmas Eve.

We did our own little family gift exchange on Christmas morning. Drew got lots of Thomas toys.

Jim's mom came over later in the morning, and we did one final gift exchange with her.

We have had a very full couple of weeks, but it has been lots of fun. We are truly blessed, and we are so grateful for our family and friends. We are also thankful for our Savior, who came to earth as a baby to live a perfect life and ultimately die on the cross to save us from our sins. We are so undeserving of His love and the gift of salvation, but we are so thankful that He chose to sacrifice Himself for us. I hope that you all have had a very merry Christmas!