christmas eve came on dec 19th for everyone in the ellsworth house. we packed everything up so we could drive back to az the next day and then watched Elf. madison laughed everytime anyone else laughed. sat, dec 20th, we celebrated chrismas morning with cinnamon rolls and arizona oranges for breakfast, after we opened our presents - a long standing tradition. and there was sooo much snow outside! a white christmas for sure. it was fun to do one last thing together before leaving town. we loaded up the car (actually DAN loaded the car!) and headed to AZ with kamber and porter in tow. she spent christmas with her family in tucson. i was so nervous about such a long drive with two nursing babies and a toddler - but all 3 did wonderfully!
madison and grace wore their matching christmas dresses to church on sunday and they were so cute! i should start buying more matching outfits. the only picture we got was after church, of both of them in their tights. that night we attended the lebaron christmas/nativity party. ever had a grilled cheese sandwich with pepperjack cheese? LOVE IT! our girls were both sheep - madison wouldn't put the ears on and made dan wear them. it's always fun to get together at g & g lebaron's with all the aunts, uncles and cousins, even when it gets pretty crazy with that many people. (i never knew what i was missing until we moved close to dan's extended family - wish all mine was closer!)
for the real christmas eve we had a delicious dinner at the skinners and then made lots of cookies - chocolate crackle, ginger snaps, and the best sugar cookies ever. i even made homemade cinnamon rolls to start carrying on the ellsworth tradition for our little family. my-inlaws were so nice and agreed to go caroling to my grandparents, the ellsworths. i hadn't been caroling in forever - it was great! dan and his brother brett spent a couple hours putting together a kitchen for madison and then we went home to get some sleep before christmas day.
we videotaped madison's reaction when she saw her kitchen the next morning and she was sooo excited. her favorite part was the hand-me-down dishes my mother in-law gave us that are probably 15+ years old. thanks laura! she loves to set the table. next year will be even more fun because she will be anticipating christmas and know who santa is. the rest of the day was spent sleeping, eating, and playing games.
i love christmas time because i love the good music, the spirit of giving, all the time to spend with people you love, and the time to think about our Savior and all He has done for us. i am so grateful for everything i have!
christmas LAST year
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