Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas started the way it does each year...with the tradition of going down to the Market, only this time we went with Lollie, Papa, Uncle and Aunt C.  Surprisingly it wasn't very crowded, which made it easier to snap a few photos.  Unfortunately, the new camera we got for China (a smaller, more compact point-n-shoot) ended up taking crummy pictures (of course we didn't realize until the end of Christmas day).  It is going back.  Boo!  But I digress.....we all split an apple fritter and had a fun time looking at all of the interesting food and then sloooowly made our way home because, surprise, we got a white Christmas!! Yeah!

 The day before Aunt C and I had gotten our craft magic on and made these cute pillows (inspiration from here).  So fun--C made an all-year-round pillow and I made a poinsettia one!

Then it was time to get ready for church.  The Noodle was singing in the choir at the 4:00 service so we had to be up there by 3:15.  After church we headed to Lollie and Papa's for Christmas tea.  All basic food groups were represented....champagne, carbs, chocolate, and fat.  Oof.   So tasty, but not so good for you!

Christmas morning we woke up and opened gifts.  The only disappointment was the big gift from Santa (will have to do a separate post on that) but the Noodle handled it with grace and a positive attitude (actually, probably better than J and I did, truth-be-told).  Then out to Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch before finishing it off at Lollie and Papa's again.

Such a fun day and so lovely to be able to be with family.  Definitely a merry Christmas!