This year we had a very Merry Christmas indeed! We celebrated with Grandma, Grandpa, Mark, Pinata, Leela, Tevin, Aunt Terry, Gary, Jason, and Billy in Arizona. Todd was missed (travelling from Shanghai with Jessica) but we’re hoping he and Jessica will join us next year.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s after listening to the neighborhood carolers and Aunt Terry read Christmas stories to the kids before bedtime. Lilly and Leela each picked one gift to open on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning Lilly was up bright and early at 6:30. We tried to keep her in our room for a bit (in hopes of keeping things quiet so she wouldn’t wake up the rest of the house) but she was so excited that there was no stopping her. There is no doubt that Lilly was a very good girl this year and Santa spoiled her with lots of presents! The kids had fun showing everyone their new toys and playing together. We all joined together around 10 to open the family gifts. At that point it was pretty apparent that Robin was not feeling well (low-grade fever, cough, runny nose) and she needed some extra attention so we didn’t open her gifts until later.

After the kids were asleep we sat outside by the fire with drinks in hand catching up with one another. It’s sad to be living so far away from my parents and siblings but always such a special time when we get together. Merry Christmas!

For the complete set of photos (of which there are many), click here.