We spent Christmas day with Catherine and Jim, Conor's parents. Man, I love my kids! They are so good and grateful and it's so fun to spend Christmas with them. I love watching them exchange gifts with each other. They get so excited to pick something out and even more excited when it's time for their sister to open the gift. It was so sweet and so pure. I love being able to take my time on Christmas morning and let the kids enjoy everything and that's exactly what we got! It was extra special to share the time with Catherine and Jim. It's a huge blessing to have two sets of Grandparents who love my kids!

On Boxing Day, we did a big Christmas celebration with Conor's sisters and their families too. The last picture is of Maeve in her fleece pajamas that Nana made for her. Maeve picked up the phrase, "open it," over Christmas and was very eager to help pass out presents and assist her family members in opening them. She'll take care of it for you! She caught on pretty quick that the bow and the tag are the first things to get removed. So then she was pulling those off before she passed them to the recipient. It's so fun to have a little one around!

We couldn't have had a better Christmas Eve! We spent the day and evening at my parents' house with my sisters. My Mom is the best at keeping things simple and easy and not stressful. It's so lovely! Mom bought a bunch of presents so that we could play white elephant and she wrapped up a gift for pass the parcel. The kids had so much fun and some hearts were laid on the line during the white elephant game! But I think at the very least, the kids all left with something they would enjoy! 

I think the cherry on top was listening to my Dad read, "Twas The Night Before Christmas," which he read to us every Christmas Eve when I was a kid. Five of the seven grandchildren (we missed you Hudson and Quinn!) were piled on the couch around him and it was the sweetest sight. So many times over Christmas, I experienced pure joy and this was one of those times!

This was a pretty special thing that we participated in over Christmas. Conor's sisters had a great idea to surprise Conor's parents with a nativity performed by the cousins. My mother-in-law has collected a lot of costumes over the years. Liz borrowed them in advance and the surprise worked! Holly was thrilled to be Mary and Greta was an angel with her cousin, Cora. In the dress rehearsal, Maeve was baby Jesus, but wouldn't do it in the final performance. It was so fun and so special to see the nativity acted out by these sweet children. This was one of my Christmas wishes, but I wasn't comfortable organizing it myself. We had a lovely time all together afterwards. 

We spent so much time with the Muirhead crew over the weekend, but it felt like none with Conor's parents. Conor spent a couple of mornings with them, but I saw them less. Our last morning before we hit the road, Jim made him famous and much desired french toast. Hoping to see more of those 2 soon. As we were leaving, Maeve decided to cling to her Nana and refuse us and the thought, "we could leave her here for a week and a half," actually passed through my mind. I must've still been getting over the stripping during the funeral. I quickly came back to my senses and brought my girl home with me. 

We all love to go and visit my Grandma McNeill probably because she loves us so much! My girls are always eager to spend time with her and they are so comfortable visiting. We especially like the newer rec room at the lodge. That's lots of fun! Maeve takes a minute to warm up to everyone. But oh wow, did she ever love my Grandma's sweet wheels. Maeve thought the walker was a lot of fun. 

We had a lovely visiting. Thanks so much for having us over Grandma! We can't wait until our next visit and we love you!