Christmas Day!

Hi all -

Today I a writing and sharing just a taste of Hannah's first Christmas - it was great!
I love Christmas for many reasons but in particular I love this day for the meaning behind it and for the traditions my family has.

We began this celebration by going to a Christmas Eve service - Brent had to go ahead b/c he participated in a 7pm service. Hannah and I attempted to attend the children's service but got the time confused so we showed up towards the end. This was okay b/c we met some friends after that and I was able to keep Hannah up until we made it through the songs of Brent's 7pm service - I had the innate need to worship last night and felt that I was able to do that and share the experience with Hannah - what a blessing. Afterwards Hannah and I headed home to get her ready for bed but on the way I drove through a couple of neighborhoods b/c I love looking at Christmas lights - it makes me a kid again and I hope that Hannah will have the same enjoyment later.

Nana and Granddaddy rolled into our house at 2am - yes that is right 2am - Dad had a 11pm service and they drove up after that - we really appreciate them doing that so we could all wake up together although it was crazy to be on the road so late!

And I love the magical-ness and mystery that is Christmas morning. This year although we are starting our new traditions with Hannah Christmas morning has carry over from traditions of years gone by. We woke up when Hannah woke up and made our way to our living room. Daddy had already been up for a little while and had turned on all the lights and lit candles and st out breakfast foods (he is AWESOME!). This year the reading of the Christmas story was passed from Granddaddy to Daddy which was cool -
Nana gave us a copy of the same publication that Granddaddy had been reading from since I was a kid. After this we sang a couple of carols courtesy of Daddy's piano playing - always a pleasure to hear. Then we enjoyed present opening. When I was a kid the tree was always in another room that was closed off until we had read the Christmas story and sang carols, taking time to remember the reason for the season. We were then led into the room with the tree with our eyes closed and positioned in front of our stockings. Then it was really cool when we opened our eyes and there were candles lit and christmas tree lit and it was beautiful and best enjoyed when it was still dark outside :)
Hannah had fun tearing the paper off of her packages and finding more fun with the tissue paper inside the boxes - not really caring about the present :) Until later - she received a stuffed bird that made the real bird sound - loved that and even tried to imitate the sound throughout the day.
She then proceeded to get sleepy and went down for her morning nap - during which time we had a good time opening our presents.
I cooked my first turkey today - with Nana's help - and it turned our really well - if I do say so myself! We enjoyed good food and just good time with each other. Granddaddy and Brent went on a walk in the woods surrounding our house and Brent, Hannah and I enjoyed catching some of the fleeting morning sunshine on a walk around the neighborhood.
We look forward to catching up with our family we didn't see in the coming weeks - there is much excited anticipated tomorrow as Aunt Alicia, Uncle Greg, Cousins Avery and Michael come for a visit - Hannah will SO love their visit - as will Brent and I.
Well - enjoy some of the photos below from our day -
The first photo with Hannah enjoying the stocking Nonni made - boy it is big :) Lots of room for Hannah to enjoy finding treats in the years to come. I know how much I treasure my stocking from my Granny - I am sure Hannah will enjoy her stocking for decades to come!
The next photo is a new trick for Hannah - standing up unassisted holding on to the rails upstairs - she can do this for quite a while and loves looking down on the people on the first floor.
And then last but not least is a pic of Hannah with a couple of elves ;) - Nana in her Santa Cap and Granddaddy sharing his UK hat - what a good day!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas today and had good time with family and friends!!