I love the way we roll on Christmas Day, nice and slow and we savor the day. Everyone was so excited to see that Santa had visited in the night, filling stockings. Honestly, watching Maeve open her stocking was a highlight! She was overjoyed with every item! Our daughters were really excited to exchange gifts and while some of the gifts were just right, some had to make us laugh. Maeve picked out her gifts all on her own with an elf at Santa Express. I likely would've steered her in a different direction for one of the gifts, but she was so excited to give it and confident that it would be well received! Maeve worked so hard to not tell what her gifts were and only gave "mints" (aka hints). But when I had just about opened the gift she gave to Conor and I, she couldn't hold it in any longer and told us all about it! So cute.

The rest of the day was filled with good food, family and games.

Our Christmas Eve was just lovely! I did a lot of food prep, but then we had some really wonderful moments together. Our friends' invited us to their Christmas Eve service and it was beautiful. Maeve participated in the nativity as an angel and even though the church and the people were unfamiliar to her, she marched herself up to the front of the congregation with the rest of the angels without any trepidation! That girl! It was a great service and I enjoyed all the carols.

Then, we went to our local park to carol with the neighbors and see Santa (!). The park was blanketed in snow and while we were there the weather gave us thick fluffy snowflakes. It was nothing shy of magical.

And then, we returned home and ate Tortierre and salad for dinner. We donned pajamas and took photos. I cannot wait to recreate the photos of E and Ira below in about 10-15 years. Ha! Those two. We read our traditional Christmas books (which I always hear in my Dad's voice) and laid out our stockings and went to bed. Christmas with children is the best.

Merry Christmas from this full house to yours!

Some snaps of our winter break cookie factory. The girls prefer Swedish Gingerbread Cookies over Sugar Cookies (that's my girls!), but Conor loves sugar cookies so... both! We (I) had lots of fun making and baking and then delivering.

Last year, Conor and the big girls learned to nordic ski while I stayed home, took care of little kids and my pregnant belly, and baked muffins (so many muffins - some sort of weird nesting). This year we all get to get out there! And it's a total circus just like we guessed it would be! My friend, Amorette, and I drove up during the work week just the two of us to initiate me into the ski crew and I'm really glad we did that before taking up the entire family. Our friend, Parker, was so generous to carry a baby or pull the sled the entire time! The weather was so wintery and it snowed the entire time we were up there. We had a great time and returned home tired. The babies were troopers and so was Maeve. We didn't end up getting Maeve on her skis because oh man, everything else was so much work! But next time, Maeve!

Things to note in the photos:

• Conor's pink boots that gave him wicked blisters
• Ira's snow encrusted hoods
• Snow in E's eyelashes
• Maeve and Ira asleep in the sled
• the sheer amount of snow on the ground and falling