Christmas with the Green's

We normally spend Christmas morning with Paul's family. This year, however, we wanted to stay home all day with Maelyn. We celebrated Christmas morning with his family on the 23rd and the change in routine worked out very well.

Once Maelyn woke up, we went to pick up David and then headed to Stouffville. When we arrived, Maelyn went right to the tree in the living room and was very excited about seeing the gifts under the tree. She refused to leave the living room!

We started by opening our stockings and Maelyn got right into the process -- she was really starting to understand the whole idea of presents!

After opening our stockings, we enjoyed breakfast together, especially Alice's famous sugar plum loaf!

We then spent the rest of the morning opening gifts and chatting. I had been worried about how Maelyn would handle the entire morning, but she did very, very well! She was very receptive to her grandparents and they were very relaxed with her. The morning went even better than we could have imagined!

Maelyn's loves her doll!

Maelyn explored the house and found one of her favourite toys -- the laundry basket!

I was so happy for Paul that we were able to spend a wonderful Christmas morning with his family. It was heartwarming to see Maelyn with her Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle David. We hope that there are many more similar visits to come.

Christmas With Friends

My friendship with my neighbours is so important to me -- they are wonderful friends! We love getting together with our kids and for all three of us, this was our first Christmas with our children. We got together for a playdate where the kids exchanged gifts and we then enjoyed lunch together.

The next day, Jenn and Mike were able to stop by for a visit. It was wonderful being able to get together with them and they completely spoiled our little miss!

April stopped by for a morning visit and we were able to catch up and exchange gifts. Maelyn was spoiled yet again!

It was wonderful to be able to spend time with friends over the holidays. They are such an important part of our lives and it feels good to know that Maelyn is so loved by our extended family of friends.

Another Weekend of Fun

We spent an evening with good friends -- Steve, Cathy and their kids. We always have a great time catching up and playing with the kids -- not to mention enjoying the fabulous meals that Cathy always makes!

When we were sitting by the fire in the basement, the kids were playing and Maelyn discovered their trampoline. She absolutely loved it and jumped on it endlessly. The next day, Paul Santa went out and got a trampoline to give her on Christmas morning.

The kids had a great time opening their gifts...

Maelyn is encouraging Eli to start opening his gift....

Notice that she is wearing pyjamas? It is all she wanted to wear...

Maelyn, Isaac, Eli and Noah

The next day we headed out bright and early to Mississauga to watch a Christmas pageant. We loved being able to visit the church where our good friends Lianne, Vanessa and all of their crew spent time putting the pageant together. The best part was being able to see our friends and give the kids hugs -- I always miss them so much when we are not together.

The pageant was so cute -- well done, ladies!

Bryanna in her role as narrator...

The kids celebrated a successful pageant with treats afterwards and Maelyn joined them!

After the pageant we headed to Lianne's house where she treated us to a yummy lunch and a good visit with some of her other friends and her parents.

The girls exchanged gifts...

Paul was in the thick of it with the kids...

Later in the afternoon we headed for our next celebration -- with the Thompsons, Woodburn's and the Cash family. I was so happy to be able to get together with our friends -- they are like family to me. We spent time catching up, sharing a meal and enjoying each other's company.

Vanessa and her sick guitar skills....hehe!!

What a wonderful day spent with amazing people. Who could ask for more during the Christmas season?