Christmas at Our House

The beautiful thing about a snow day and a sick baby is that there is lots of time for blogging!  Elaine has been napping for about four hours now, so I thought I would take the opportunity to share some highlights of our Christmas with you. 

We were looking forward to being alone this Christmas.  I know it sounds selfish, but it nice to just have our little family together, in our own home, and start to establish some of our own traditions.

We started with devotions in bed and then a yummy breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, bacon, and eggs.  The cinnamon rolls were my first attempt, but the recipe is a keeper – you have to try it! 

During our Wednesday night service, Pastor Bickel shared some stories from a book called In Search of Christmas.  I really enjoyed the “Biblical fiction” stories…looking at Christmas from the eyes of an aged Shepherd, and Joseph the carpenter.  I was so blessed to be given the book as a gift from one of my Sunday School students, Diesel.

After breakfast we opened gifts.  We went light on gifts to each other.  Elaine and I just had birthdays, and we really didn’t need much.  I had fun getting some things for Ben.  Our downstairs neighbors gave each of us a gift, and my parents sent quite the box.  Apparently it was a record season for volume with FedEx, but our box arrived on Christmas Eve just as we were leaving for Manhattan.

A light-up ornament from Great-Grandma & Grandpa Paul

Helping Daddy rip the paper

my happy little girl…sparkling eyes and all!

 
my parents gave Ben and I matching fleece jackets.  Ben’s is a little big, so we’re trading it in for a smaller size.  I love mine!  Ben got this nice fleece from the neighbors.  Elaine gave him a hat and scarf, and I gave him a new sweater and a Question Jar.

Elaine opened her last gift over Skype with Grandma & Grandpa.  I didn’t know how she would do with the laptop so close, but she thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention. 

And when the baby doll came out of the package she couldn’t wait to get her hands on it.  Finally Ben released it from her package and she was in heaven!

When Elaine took her morning nap, Ben & I did too.  We all slept so wonderfully for three hours – a rare treat for Ben, and little bit longer of a treat for this pregnant momma!  We also enjoyed a trek to the park, though it was brief because of the cold!

 
Daddy helped Elaine climb the ladder to the slide.  She decided she could go down by herself, but she always forgot to sit first!  It made for a mess of tangled legs…

We have decided to keep a Godby tradition for Christmas – fondue for dinner.  We had a meat & oil fondue, and this year I added a cheese fondue to the menu.  I talked my mom into doing it too…changing up the tradition just a little bit.

(and just to clarify, lest anyone wonders…that’s just sparkling cider in the bottle!)

For your pleasure, Grandma & Grandpa Godby:

Elaine in her new PJs, in the baby cradle that Grandpa made for Mommy, with her new baby doll!

Giving baby kisses – Elaine’s newest “trick” is giving kisses