Christmas Cheer

We had a wonderful Christmas season filled with lots of holiday treats, family, friends, and love. Oh, and a nice old man in a red suit snuck into our house one night and left some pretty cool loot, which was a major bonus.

I should mention that Molly Ruth got to meet jolly old Saint Nick for the first time ever this year. Personally, I've never been a fan of people in costume. There's just something unnerving to me about people "in character." I especially don't like it when you can't see the person's real face at all (Yes, I even get a nervous stomach around the characters at Disney, but I'm brave enough to take a picture with them).

But enough about my irrational fears. Let's get back to MR. She did so well! No crying at all and we even got a pretty great shot of the momentous occasion:



Our first official Christmas celebration was on Christmas Eve Eve. We had all of Matt's family over to our house for holiday snacks, gift exchange for the children, and charades. It was our first time hosting a holiday get together and we had a blast!

Opening presents:





The whole group:



Matt, Molly Ruth, Greg (Matt's brother), Katie (Greg's wife), and me:



Our dear friend Molly (Molly Ruth's namesake!) made an impromptu stop on her way in from Memphis and was even able to join us for a few games of charades. It was so nice to see her!



Molly, mom, and yours truly (Sometimes getting MR to cooperate for pictures is a challenge. Imagine that!):

Not quite...



Nope...



Close enough ;)



My sweet mom:









I'll close with some photos of Grandma Marsh and Molly Ruth cleaning together after the party. MR got a play vacuum, mop, broom, etc from her Uncle Greg and Auntie KK. She loves "helping" us clean and Grandma Marsh is loving having a little cleaning apprentice who is eager to learn from the master. ;)









I'll be back soon with a few pictures from Christmas Day!