christmas 2011

when we got home from our trip, we cleaned up a little bit, did laundry, created our christmas menus for grocery shopping, and then gammy, pepaw, and papaw came to spend christmas with us.

we had a christmas eve service at our church, and it was so good to be back at church.

love my girl...

when we got home, it was time to relax and get ready for santa clause!!  ben and i were excited about this ourselves because neither one of us did santa as a kid.

austin was excited about santa, but i can't wait until next year when she really understands.

christmas morning, she woke up in our bed, and as soon as she got up, we showed her that santa had come. she got into her stocking 1st.

that's all the photos that i took. i had so much fun sitting there watching her that i didn't take many. she was excited about everything that she opened.  after presents, daddy had to be at the church for the christmas service, but we stayed home and cooked our christmas lunch.  we pretty much had everything ready by the time daddy got home.

we rested that afternoon, and then got ready to go riding and see christmas lights!  austin was excited that her and gammy both had snowmen on their jammies.  :)

excited girl!  we stopped at mcdonalds (the only place open!) to get milkshakes while we rode.  austin has just recently discovered milkshakes, and she looooooves a vanilla milkshake!

cinderella's carriage!

when we got home, daddy entertained us with some wii dancing, and austin played on her "puter."

we had a great day as a family!  i love having our own little family traditions that ben and i are able to start.  a few are... breakfast for dinner christmas eve night (daddy made us waffles!), riding to look at lights, and always being home christmas morning for santa.  1 thing that we decided to start next year is that austin will only get 3 gifts plus her stocking.  for 1 thing, baby Jesus only got 3 gifts, so why should we get 20?  and also, by the time she opens gifts from everyone else, there is seriously nothing else that she needs.

austin's gift recap--->
from santa: innotab, finger paint, and stocking (colored pencils, markers, small color wonder tinkerbell set, bath poof, toothbrush, santa pez and candy, m&ms, and hello kitty hand sanitizer)
from mommy & daddy: princess innotab game, several coloring books and paint with water books, a baby stroller, pots and pans and a mixer for the play kitchen, princess dominoes, mickey mouse fishing game, and a tinkerbell ornament (that austin picked out for the year).

from family and friends, you got: clothes, pajamas, zhu zhu pink hamster, charlie brown book, pink kitchen, melissa and doug shopping cart and food, money, play dough, water color paint, scented clay, chihuahua in a purse, ethiopian gifts, pink shopping cart, magnetic book, and a sesame street foam puzzle.  (i'm probably forgetting a few things.)