December Phone Dump

A look back at December from my phone . . . 

Sisters

There was some serious flooding this month . . . the path you see at the bottom of the photo goes to the other end of the field that looks like a lake!

Photo shoot with Mommy before Ryan and I went to his work Christmas party

Her first braid!

Stickers kept these three two-year-olds happy for a while!

Watching White Christmas while addressing Christmas cards and missing my sister terribly

I'm not a fan of the mess, but she sure does love blueberries!

The kids entertained themselves while Ryan and I tag-teamed on some Christmas shopping

Sick kids make for lots of extra laundry but not extra time to fold it all!

The Birthday Girl

We took Sean and Jessica to the Ely Cathedral.  Inside they had the most spectacular Christmas tree I've ever seen.

Can you find Gretchen?!

 Heading into London on the Tube

Part of my Christmas from Mom and Dad was a shopping date with my personal shopping assistant (she's amazing!) and we scored on some serious deals! 

Fun with Family

These two cuties are three months apart, which still makes a big difference now, but won't be as noticeable in a year.  

Uncle Sean introduced Rooke to angry birds and he loved it!  I thought it was just going to be the fun Uncle Sean thing while they were here, but soon found out that Rooke had convinced Big Daddy and Daddy to download the app on their ipads as well!  

Aunt Jessica is a master story-reader

Those eyes!

All bundled up for our walk around the city

We made a stop at Harrod's where Gretchen enjoyed their Disney Princess window displays

His special treat in the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Christmas with Family!

We were so excited to have the Paynes fly over to celebrate Christmas with us!  Ryan had already met Phoebe, but the rest of us were anxiously waiting to snuggle with her for the first time (and see her parents too, of course!).  Sean, Jessica, and Phoebe arrived with smiles even after a very long day of traveling with a little girl who hardly slept on the flight.  We celebrated Gretchen's birthday in London and then headed home.  We did a little sight-seeing in Cambridge, Ely, and London while they were here.  And Christmas day was so special getting to be together!  Thank you for coming, Sean and Jessica, and for having fun with us even though you weren't getting much sleep!  We loved our time with all three of you! 

Grammy Deb and G-Daddy give the kids new pajamas each year to be opened on Christmas Eve.  Getting a photo of everyone by the tree wearing their new pjs is always entertaining!

Skyping with Grammy Deb and G-Daddy before bed

Christmas morning!  We let the kids open their stockings first thing . . .

Kaye K and Big Daddy came bright and early to spend the day with us

Bridgette was an angel all morning, crawling around and quietly exploring everything

Rooke really wanted a Batman costume and has worn it almost every day since the 25th! 

This was one of my favorite parts of the morning - I got to snuggle both girls while they shared a bowl of cheerios.

Precious Phoebe

Christmas dinner - a yummy end to a fun-filled day

Brothers.  Can you tell?!