Pennsylvania Christmas

 

I've finally finished organizing and editing all of the pictures from our Christmas celebration in Harrisburg with Grandpa, Mimi, and Gawa:  Better late than never!  We had a wonderful Christmas in Pennsylvania.  The children looked gorgeous dressed up in their Christmas Eve outfits, and we attended an early evening church service, which allowed time for Luke & Leah to prepare for Santa's arrival later that night.  Luke wrote Santa a special note this year, and the kids picked out each cookie very carefully.  They decided that Santa wanted to drink chocolate milk, and also left out carrots, lettuce, and ice cubes (?) for the reindeer (per Luke's specific instructions):

Following tradition, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas aloud together, and tucked in our little ones, with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads:

 

Clayton perched on the top of the couch to watch over the stockings after Santa filled them, and kept a close eye on the presents overnight:

Luke asked Santa for a race track for remote control cars this year, and Leah wished for the Doc McStuffins Get Better Check Up Center.  Many of you have now heard the story about how Mommy almost had a nervous breakdown when she realized that this particular Doc toy was THE hot item for Santa's elves to make this year, and there was a lengthy, backordered list.  Luckily, those magical elves came through (and yes, magical is the word for it), and Christmas was saved:

 

On Christmas morning, our two early birds slept until almost 7:00 a.m., which amazed us (we anticipated a much earlier wake up!).  Once we were up, we all went downstairs to see if Santa had come.  Luke's expression here says it all, and when Leah realized that the "Big Book of Boo Boos" that she loves so much was a part of her special toy from Santa, she couldn't be torn away:

 

The kids were such great ages to enjoy the wonder of Christmas this year.  From their footie pajamas to their coordinating reindeer shirts, it was all so festive and fun-filled and special.  To be a part of their joy on Christmas morning was a gift itself:

Beating Daddy at slot racing.

 

Doc Mc Peanut.

Of course there was no shortage of gifts for these lucky children.  They opened stockings and piles of presents, and we took several breaks to play with new toys, as some were just too enticing to be left in their packages:

We also enjoyed special time with Mimi and Grandpa, and captured some wonderful Christmas moments to cherish forever:

One of the cutest (and loudest) things was the music that L&L made playing their new recorders from Grandpa.  The kids entertained us with their own rendition of "Jingle Bells", and were adorable.  You can thank me later for not including an audio clip:

 

Here is a slideshow of more pictures from our terrific Christmas in Pennsylvania: