Merry Merry Christmas

Sunday we had a family photo session. Hailey was all smiles. Dylan didn't have many smiles for us but we still got some cute shots. We didn't get a nice shot of the four us though so we might try for retakes before heading home.

This week I faced some time zone challenges with work pushing my work day practically through the supper hour. Thank goodness Tracy looked after the meals and kept the children entertained. They took a trip out to Mia and Justin's house to play on Monday and went to visit Julia on Wednesday. I had a bit of time with the kids each the morning but found that by the time I finished work I caught the tail end of supper and tucked the kids into bed.

Late Tuesday evening after the kids went to bed Tracy and I did some last minute Christmas shopping. We hit Coscto, Toy'R'Us and Superstore, which we expected would be chaotic on Dec 23rd but we actually found that the stores were not all that busy. we found pretty much everything we were looking for and headed home to do some wrapping. By the time we went to bed we were ready for Christmas Eve.

Darcy and I worked Christmas Eve. Late in the afternoon I made an Oreo Cheesecake and we started preparations for dinner. Dan's parent's, brother Mike and friends Marybeth, Dave and Julia joined us for dinner. We made William's Sonoma Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Sage Dijon cream sauce, garlic and chive mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce and Caesar salad. Yum. We finished off the evening with Christmas cookies and Oreo cheesecake! Before Hailey went to bed she carefully selected a plate full of cookies for Santa and very excitedly turned in for the night.


Hailey was the last up Christmas morning and she threw on a Santa hat and ran to check the cookie plate. She found that he ate ALL the cookies she left him and was very pleased. She was very excited to find that stockings and presents filled the living room. We slowly worked our way through the pile of presents giving the kids lots of time to play with each toy as they opened them. The adults spent most of this time untwisting, unpacking, untying and assembling toys of all sorts.

After snacking on goodies found in our stockings we opted to save our Big Breakfast for Boxing Day and relaxed for the Day. Tracy and I worked on our plans for the New Year's Eve Margaritaland Murder Mystery.

After the kiddies and daddy's napped we dressed for dinner and headed out for dinner. The weather was poor and the roads were slick. We arrived to find a large group gathered at Dan's Uncle Werner and Aunty Fran's. Dylan snacked on chips and nuts but couldn't hold out for dinner. He was far too tired and cranky so we put him to bed and after some tears he fell asleep for the evening. Hailey was a trooper, she played, danced and ate until after 11pm and fought to stay awake even for the drive home.

This morning we had our big breakfast, french toast, bacon, hashbrown casserole and fruit. It is afternoon and Dylan has gone down for a nap. I have yet to make it out of my PJs which is fine with me because I am happy to just relax!