The festivities begin…

I don’t have much time to write because I still have a TON of presents to wrap, but I wanted to get some pictures posted before I have a million more (which I know is sure to happen over the next few days!)

The Christmas festivities are definitely in full swing around here!! On Friday night we finally got to take Hadley and Alyson out for their big Christmas surprise…a CINDERELLA CARRIAGE RIDE on the Plaza!! How fun!! We were a bit rushed because parking was so horrible and the carriage company wasn’t very nice about it, but once we got settled in we really enjoyed our ride…the girls (and us) thought it was over way to quick, but isn’t that the way it always is!! It was so neat to look at all the lights while we rode around in the carriage. It must have been meant to be that we had to reschedule because it was the most beautiful night. We didn’t even need hats or gloves (except the babies!!) Afterwards we went out to eat at Winstead’s…the babies are getting so big…they each ate some grilled cheese!! Here are some pictures from our ride. Our horse was named P.K. and the house right behind us was named Grasshopper…the girls loved that!!



On Saturday morning we made our traditional Christmas sugar cookies with icing. Gam and Grampa came over to enjoy this tradition with us. It is neat to see how Hadley’s involvement in the process changes from year to year. She was such a big help this year! Her favorite part was actually getting flour out of the jar and spreading it all over the counter! I don’t have time to post all of the pictures individually, but you will see that Hadley gave sissy her first cookie! Seville LOVED it!! Seville also got to try some dough (no eggs) to get into the spirit!! You will also see a lot of pictures of Scott’s big SURPRISE yesterday! I got him Guitar Hero for Christmas (we would rather have Rock Band, but it isn’t out for Wii yet!) I let him open it yesterday morning because I knew he wanted to take it to our neighborhood Christmas party last night. While we were making cookies Scott got it all setup and then everyone, including my mom and Jon, joined in and gave it a try. Check out the pics…some of them are hilarious! See…it really is a game that everyone can play and enjoy! You can tell on my mom’s face that she actually is having a really good time…GO GAM!!! And Hadley is such the little rocker chick! Man, she amazes us with her rhythm and moves already!!



Last night we went to our second annual neighborhood holiday party!! It was a great time! There were lots and lots of yummy appetizers (my favorite!) We had a white elephant exchange and then played Wii, Guitar Hero, pool and ping-pong. It was great to catch up with all of our neighbors. It is amazing how little we see them even though we all live on the same street!! We are fortunate to have such a great cul-de-sac with some many kids right around Hadley and Seville’s age. We really couldn’t ask to live on a better street!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas festivities like we are!! Today we are headed over to my dad’s to celebrate with that side of the family!!! Can’t wait to spend some time with all of them!!