Christmas Break

We had a great Christmas at home.  Elijah and I came home from the hospital on the 17th and then Marsha flew into town on the 18th and stayed for two weeks.  It was so wonderful having her around--she was such a big help.  Of course, with a newborn around, we didn't venture out much at all.  It wasn't the most exciting or eventful holiday break.  We did a lot of this:

 

There were some exciting times, too, including a rousing game of Monopoly.  

Just look at how enthusiastic we are:

 

Easy cheese straight from the can!  We partied hard.

(For the record, canned cheese is Christmas tradition for Joe.  I can't stand the stuff and did not partake.)

We did throw together a little nativity photo shoot for a last ditch effort at a Christmas card. Nate refused to wear his head band thing and Eli wasn't thrilled about the experience but they turned out pretty cute:

I was doing some with the flash and some without.  

If only I had the photography skills to carry out the plans in my head. 

Here are some outtakes, too:

The big day finally came.  Once again, I don't really have any pictures.  We did get some cute video of the kids seeing their stockings and gifts from Santa.

Eli didn't really get what the big deal was:

Nate was thrilled to receive 3 light sabers!  (Two from Santa and one from a cousin)  

He is already planning for next year when he is going to ask Santa for 3 more light sabers to complete his collection.

 

 

Natalie was thrilled to not only get her butterfly net but also a butterfly growing kit.

 

It was actually the best gift.  We sent in for the larvae and she was so excited to finally get them in the mail.  Then, it was amazing to watch the caterpillars grow and build their cocoons and then turn into butterflies!  We just released them the other day (at least the few that survived being loved by eager kids).

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of Elizabeth with her American girl doll--Josefina.  She has since made her a little bed, complete with pillow and sheet.  She is learning fast that American girl stuff is expensive and requires a lot of saving up to get.

The cold, rainy weather kept us inside, too.  But, we did have a few nice days including one day when I took all 4 kids on a walk/bike ride to the park.  It was my first outing with all the kids and it went pretty well.  I saw this beautiful rainbow and just felt happy to be out.

 

We sure loved having Marsha here and were so glad she could come. Especially when I had some difficulties one day.  I had this sudden extremely sharp pain in my stomach.  Joe ended up taking me back to the hospital where I learned I had gall stones.  Luckily, the pain subsided and I haven't had any flare-ups since.  I've been trying to clean up my diet and I think it is probably helping.

We don't know what we'd do without Grandma Marsha!

The kids were so sad to see her go.