Merry Christmas!

 

If I were to sum up this Christmas in one word it would be "peaceful."  I am over 37 weeks now so we were pretty much forced to stay put.  I thought I would be a little more homesick but it has actually been really nice to just rest, read, go for walks, bake, and relax.  Did I mention that I also got kankles, cramps and swollen feet for Christmas?  That also may have contributed to my contentment with not being around a lot of people this Christmas ;) 

This is a picture taken before a little White Elephant party we had with some friends.  I was pretty excited to get a Justin Bieber toothbrush.  I can listen to him sing while I brush ;)

 

This picture was taken before the Christmas Eve service.  Our church did their service outside which was kind of neat.

 Christmas Eve Dinner.  We tried grilling pork for the first time and it was delicious.  I also made some PW mashed potatoes which are now officially on my "go to" list for holidays.  They haven't failed me yet!

 

We began Christmas morning with a spicy sausage quiche, fruit, and homemade banana bread. Yummy!



 

 We used drawnames.com to pick secret santas on both sides of the family this year. It made picking out presents a lot less stressful and more fun by having one special person to buy for.  I think my secret santas must have coordinated their gifts somehow.  Kelsey sent me an awesome purse and my Dad sent me a fancy red wallet that goes perfectly with it!

 Matt received some nice pull over shirts from both of his secret santas.  We also received some gift cards and babysitting offers :)

 Ornaments from Grandma

I made this ornament for Matt.  But, I must confess I saw someone selling a very similar ornament on Etsy.  I am almost bought it but realized I was running out of time.  So, I decided I could figure out how to make something similar and save a little cash.  The only thing I needed to spend money on was buying the wooden ornament from JoAnnes and developing the picture!  Now we have  an ornament to help us remember this Christmas. 

 

We also saw Les Mis on Christmas day.  A beautiful story about sacrificial love and hope.  I am so thankful to be reminded that although this world can be very scary, we can have HOPE and PEACE in knowing that Christ has already overcome the world!  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were able to take time to reflect on the birth of our Savior.