Christmas...

Christmas still hasn't ended here at Chateaux Neyer - the Johnson family celebration is still a week away! We have, however, finally de-Christmasfied the house. I guess technically there is still one more tree to be disassembled, but our real tree was officially evicted last night, leaving 80 percent its needles strewn throughout my entry way. With everything boxed up the house seems a little less cozy and sparkly.Our main celebration went for four days - Christmas Eve through the 27th.
Gramma Kathy arrived in balmy Cincinnati on the 23rd, much to the delight of her girls (and her Andy, of course). Christmas Eve day we continued the Addie/Gramma cookie extravaganza tradition. Gramma and Addie whipped up pecan caramel cookies for the neighbors, which we later delivered. They also toiled over a batch of delicious snickerdoodles as requested by Santa himself.

We spend every Christmas Eve with Andy's Grandmother, GG, and his entire extended family. It is the only time in the year that GG gets to see her entire family and quite a bit of spoiling occurs. Family camps out in the basement, in chairs and around the bar, while Uncle Ed dutifully hands out gifts, one by one. We get a bit spoiled by GG and Secret Santas, but Addie, and now Brenna, really get regaled with gift after gift. Both girls got beautiful new clothes, books and toys. Addie really cleaned up with a baby doll care kit, four foot tall paper dolls, roller skates and her own make up kit - all of which have become fast favorites.
We made it home a little before midnight and Addie scrambled off to bed once she put out Santa's snickerdoodles. After a tired glass of wine in front of the tree we also headed to bed, preparing for an inevitably early morning.

Early morning? Ha! My little elves didn't tumble out of bed until 9 a.m. Talk about a fabulous Christmas gift! While we waited for Grandma Patty and Aunt Nikki to come over, Addie and Brenna opened their stockings and us grown ups enjoyed our coffee before the storm of gift opening began.

Unlike past Christmases, this year it was a long, yet somehow enjoyable, event. Addie wanted to play with each gift she opened instead of just plowing on to the next. She made sure to help pass out other gifts and loved seeing what Brenna received. Brenna handed out some coos and ahhs and smiles...but mostly she just slept
through her first Christmas hoopla.
We spent many hours lazing, eating and playing - just as Christmas should be. And, even though the girls had living room full of gifts, the next two days were spent celebrating with Andy's extended family and then with our immediate family.

To say that our house is now busting at the seams would be a colossal understatement.While we love the generous gifts that were lavished upon us, it was was being together that was the best gift.

Having our little family healthy and happy? I'll put that on my list to Santa every year, and be perfectly happy if that is all he brings down our chimney.