Christmas....just the 4 of us.

Christmas day 2010 was just a little bit different from all the rest, this year it was just us. We have always been with either my family or Russell's family so I wasn't sure how the day would go. Everything was up to us now...we were officially the grown ups. (Ok, so that's a little dramatic, but that's how I felt...especially when Russell told me he wanted all the fixin's for our Christmas day lunch...yikes.) But you know, we survived and had a wonderful day! We even had a WHITE Christmas!! It was so beautiful! The girls had a wonderful time opening their gifts and after breakfast, the 4 of us, along with several other families from our church, took some food and gifts to a group of senior citizens in Jacksonville. They were mostly shut-ins who didn't have family nearby...so it was such a pleasure for us to serve them on Christmas day and hopefully bring some joy to them! It was a wonderful way to take the focus off of ourselves and all the "stuff" and focus on helping others.

Let me back up a little and tell you about Christmas eve. A friend gave us these super cute baggies filled with oats and glitter and on the outside there was a little poem that read,
" Make a wish and close your eyes tight,
Sprinkle this on your lawn Christmas Eve night,
As Santa and his reindeer roam,
This sparkly dust will lead them to your home,
The reindeer will love their oatmeal snack,
While they are waiting for Santa to come back."

The girls (especially Marissa) were so excited to go outside to put out their glitter and reindeer food!

What's in here??

Big sister showing little sister the proper way to sprinkle.

She's got it!

Ready for the reindeer!

Once we made sure the reindeer were fed, it was time to make sure Santa had some snacks! Check out Miss Marissa and her pose with the cookies:) She's a pro.

Allie would much rather eat the cookies than take a picture with them. Marissa was still posing.

Santa came and even left a little note!! He looooooved the cookies and milk!

The girls woke up around 7 and were very excited to see their stocking and presents:)
A Dora toothbrush!!!

What else do I have in here?!

Allie found the M&M's in her stocking and she was done. Presents smesents...just give this girl some food:)

A new big sister baby doll, complete with a little sister doll!

Daddy helping out a little.

A new baby!!!

Tinkerbell jammies:)

Allie loves playing with Russell's wedding ring, so we got her a few of her own:)

Now our little Marissa is a puzzle fanatic! (she gets it from her mommy.) This was a tinkerbell puzzle...she immediately ripped it open and got to work!

This was our house after the snow!! It was so beautiful and such a treat to have a white Christmas!!

Finished!!

Well, as you can see, we had a wonderful Christmas....just the 4 of us. But don't worry...we weren't alone for long...stay tuned for Christmas with the Mckinney's and the Nichols'.