We Survived Christmas 2014!

Actually it went fairly smoothly.
It started with the preschool program:

Actually, Taryn did a program with the Glendale band, but I had a final that evening and was unable to make it. This was Taryn's last band performance, as she dropped and is moving into Culinary Arts second semester. I am sad that she will miss out on the whole experience, but with the four-block schedule band is a huge commitment (25% of her credits would be band), and she wasn't enjoying it anymore.

In the days leading up to Christmas, we baked cookies:

The chocolate chip were typical, the chocolate kisses were delish, and the sugar cookies were much better than last year, if not quite picture-perfect:

We watched lots of holiday shows:

Then Christmas Eve with my kids and Karl, my dad, my brother and his kids, and Mandy, arrived:

I only wore this for the picture, as it was too big, and made me look even bigger!

Rowan

 Blake

Mandy. This one could use some cropping.

Madison looking lovely in her glasses.

Lucien

Karl and Dad

Then Santa set out some things:

This Train! Oh my. While cool ( I think Caleb had a similar one as a child), it is LOUD, the tracks frequently come apart, and the "smoke" it blows smells toxic.

Gabe seems to like this a lot. What two-year-old wouldn't like those little animals?

Liam's stuff. Cheap, sciency stuff. Hopefully, it will be enough to keep him entertained, and won't fall apart too soon.

He uses this as a night light. 

And then Christmas morning:

Tierney and Jake arrived quite early. We open presents early, and then they have to rush off to Jake's family. It's quite depressing. 

Gabe loves the Octonaut toys.

A mess, but I have seen worse. I tend to limit what I buy to what I can stand to have in the house. 

Finally, we went to Karl's parents for a delicious Sauerbraten dinner.

The lovely Hummel figurine for me!

My dad went along, and took a post-dinner nap in the sunroom.

All in all it was fine. Glad it's all over, though. I am tired.