Merry Christmas!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Unfortunately Pat lost his job in early December, but that didn't stop us from truly enjoying the Christmas season. It was nice to have him home and really enjoy our time as a family.
We hosted brunch for the Mulrone's on Christmas Eve. Good food and great company - and then fun times with presents. The girls loved opening presents and couldn't wait to play with their new toys - especially the walking kitties from Aunt Maureen & Uncle Roy.
That evening Reagan sang out our church's Christmas Eve service. Her and her choir did a great job and really sang their hearts out. From there we headed to the Scanlon's for dinner with Brent, Linda, Aunt Karen, Uncle Nick, Elmer & Georgeann. A low-key evening was just what we needed.
Christmas morning was spent at home. Pat & I had to wait for everyone to get up - they slept past 8:30! To see Christmas through their eyes was just awesome. They had fun opening their stockings - and were excited with new toothbrushes.
And then came the presents...Reagan was thrilled with her new MP3 player and Nola with her boombox! Before we were finished there was one more box - they couldn't believe it when they opened it and saw a Wii!!! Pat got that hooked up for them and it hasn't gotten much rest since.
Soon it was time for breakfast. As is the tradition in our house, we each had our favorite ice cream. Best morning of the year!
After more playing it was time to head to Grandma Jane & Grandpa John's house. With 8 grandkids, it was organized chaos - or maybe not so organized. The kids loved all of their presents - Nola was especially fond of her new carrier for Bitty Baby (similar to my Bjorn). After Nola opened her Skittles, she decided she was done opening presents. She was just so happy to have a full bag of candy to herself. Reagan was busy playing school with her new school set.
After a fun afternoon with their cousins it was time to head to the Mulcrone's for our last stop. A bad accident shut down the Bishop Ford so it took us longer than we hoped, but it gave the kids a chance to nap.
We had a great night with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. The girls just kept on playing until they dropped around 10. Then it was time to head home and spend the 26th at home, by ourselves, recovering from a wonderful Christmas and enjoying some much needed family time.