Timothy has been wanting to have a Christmas at home since we got married. So, this year, we invited family to our house for Christmas. Grandma Allred was the only one who took us up on that offer. (Although Timothy's brother had a good excuse, they're in Vegas and about to have a baby. I mean, they're at the hospital. We're thinking about you guys! Good luck Jen!!) Anyway, we had a fun week.
Emma has started to really like fairies. She saw the Tinker Bell movie (by the way, did anyone else find that movie disappointing? Peter Pan wasn't even in it. I really thought that it would be much different than it was. OK, promise not to review kids movies anymore.) and has been talking fairies ever since. She got this dress for Halloween and loves to wear her fairy dress. Kaylee got a little bit envious and went for her fairy dress too. I don't think she quite gets it but if Emma is doing it, she has to too.
On Christmas Eve, the girls got new Christmas jammies. There's just something about footed jammies that make kids look so cute!
Before bed Christmas Eve, we sang some Christmas carols. Emma loves to sing, as you can see. And again, Kaylee loves to do whatever Emma is doing.
Christmas morning, we called my Mom and Dad in the Philippines and they got to watch the girls open their stockings (via Skype... I love technology...). After presents, we wanted to take the girls sledding. However, we live in the land of flat. I cannot think of a park with a hill in it. So, Timothy pulled the sled around the park by our house. Which was enough for the babies. He ran around in a circle until the girls tipped over. Emma thought that was great fun. Kaylee was too shocked to even cry. It was pretty funny.
This picture is supposed to be the other way, but I can't figure out how to turn it around.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, we were talking to Emma about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday. She was quiet for a minute and then asked if we were going to have cake and sing the birthday song for baby Jesus. We figured, why not? So after Christmas dinner, we had birthday cake and sang.
I didn't have enough icing to put around the edges of the layers, so it kind of started to settle after I put the cookies on it, but it still tasted wonderful! I love cream cheese. And chocolate. And mint. (p.s. I just made the world's best chocolate chip cookies...yummm. Sister Elford's recipe, melt in your mouth goodness!)
Speaking of cookies, my Grandma Amen makes frosted cream cookies every year for Christmas. These cookies are just as good as money in our family. I mean, you could probably buy just about anything from anyone in the family for a container of cookies. So, anyway, this year, as we stayed home, I did not get any cookies. I decided Sunday before Christmas, that I was going to make my own because, it just wouldn't be Christmas without them. Let me tell you, these are the most ridiculous cookies I have ever made. It takes like, three hours (and like, 10 cups of flour) to make one batch. Plus, the icing is a little bit finicky, I think I overcooked mine by a couple of seconds (or minutes...). Anyway, Linda snapped a picture of me, covered in flour, trying to ice the cookies, piles and piles of cookies. I don't think that I'll make them next year.
Please, don't judge my hair in this picture. It doesn't look fantastic, I'd been making cookies for hours!
