And the stockings were hung...

Every year, I seem to think that this is the BEST Christmas ever! This year did not disappoint in any way. It was definitly the best Christmas we have ever had for many reasons.

Ava was super excited about the impending arrival of Christmas this year. We started counting down to Christmas with the help of an Advent wreath and chocolate filled Advent calendars for each of the girls. Mia fell in LOVE with the "choc-it" in her calendar and asked for it any time she was near the fridge (this is where we kept the calendars)

Ava and I started a new tradition of making chocolate chip cookies from scratch for Santa on Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful time baking together and the cookies turned out great!

We continued a tradition established a few two years ago by going to our friends, the Todds, for our third annual Christmas Eve celebration at their home after mass.

Afterwards, we came home and lit the fireplace. The girls opened one gift each, we put cookies our for Santa and then got ready for a long winter's nap.

Well...this is just the tip of the iceburg. More to come later!

Happy to do!

Late last week, Mia began singing her very own special version of "Happy Birthday". It was the sweetest birthday present she could give her mommy! Here is a video of the cuteness:

Chubby Little Snowman....

Tuesday Mia and I went to Ava's school to watch her Christmas Program. It was too adorable to watch the three year olds "sing" the Christmas songs that they had been working on all month. Here are a couple of pictures and a low quality video of the program:

Christmas Cuties...

We had "professional" photos taken of the girls the other day in their Christmas dresses. We thought that we would share some of our favorites with you guys! Have a very Merry Christmas!!

Turkey Time!!

We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Ava and I spent some quality time togethe on Wednesday cooking for our Thanksgiving feast. Peter's parents drove in on Thursday from AL and stayed with us over the Thanksgiving weekend. The girls were in heaven being spoiled by their Nonnie and Poppa and I must say that really I enjoyed the break as well ;)! Here are some of our pictures. Enjoy!