Best.CHRISTmas.Ever

We really did have the an awesome Christmas! It was officially Christmas for us when Joe's brother, Travis, and his girlfriend, Chelsea, arrived- after driving across the country from Arizona. They have really enjoyed their first semester at ASU, but are enjoying their break and their family! We've missed them so much and are enjoying every moment with them!

Joe and I went to Christmas Eve service at Church. When we got home, he made homemade pizza for us (even the dough was made from scratch). After pizza, we waited and waited for Danica to go to sleep, but with all the excitement of Santa Claus- she had a tough time- poor thing. It was no big deal, but we had a lot of work to do. Santa dropped off a HUGE doll house and asked us to put it together. So Mema took her to her room and rocked her to sleep. Here are the guys working hard on Danica's house:

Christmas started at Mema's house, of course. Danica was so excited over her new house. She got a new pair of boots, too, and insisted on wearing them all day. We went to my Dad's house and joined him and his wife's family for a late lunch. She has 3 grandchildren, ages 3 and under, so Danica had a really good time playing with them. My Uncle Robert was also visiting from Raleigh, so it was nice to see him. We definitely have to join him for a Hurricane's game soon.

After visiting my daddy, we had Christmas with Travis and Chelsea (Chelsea spent Christmas morning with her family, so we decided to wait to have Christmas with Travis so she could join us). Then we went to Joe's grandparents house for dinner. Danica's aunt and uncle gave her a beautiful play dress, so we let her change. Addie Bug is walking so good now. She and Danica had a good time playing together. And Danica sang all her favorite Christmas songs to everyone. It's amazing how many she knows word for word. One of our Christmas traditions includes Marci reading the Christmas Story. We quizzed Danica before she started to see how much she knew. I've read the Christmas story to her every night before bedtime and she knows it so well. So proud of my girl. Presents are fun, but the best gift of all was Jesus Christ. I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating Jesus and celebrating each other!

As of this moment, Christmas is packed away as we prepare to celebrate another special birthday. Danica is three... TODAY. It's after midnight, isn't it?! Today is Danica's birthday. I'm getting ready to blow up a bunch of balloons and cover the floor in her bedroom. I'm going to treat her to a special breakfast and then we are going to celebrate with family this evening. Danica has requested a Tinker Bell party! More to come...