Christmas Eve we cleaned and cleaned, took and nap and watched a movie. Ezra and I worked on the turkey, mashed potatoes and rolls. Brent and Andrea Carter and 3 kids came over, plus Sarah. We had dinner. We acted out the nativity. Baby Jesus (Andrea's baby) crawled away and played with legos. Olivia the angel wanted to be carried in like she was flying. She spoke her part well. Kids got too friendly and rough with Brent. After guests went home we sorted present before bed.
Christmas morning... stockings, cinnamon rolls and bacon, presents... then off to church. Upon arriving at church Grace discovered another Christmas present she had hoped for - a loose tooth!
After church and lunch we drove to Ames. We ate dinner then opened presents. This time all the kids opened, then were excused to play while the adults opened presents.
So many presents!!
The big three girls got American Girl Doll clothes, lovingly sewed by Grandma Susan! They each got like 5 outfits each. What a labor of love! Annabelle and Grace and Saffi also got matching dresses. Lucky girls! They had fun playing with their dolls.
Big, big day! The oldest 5 slept in the basement.
Finn and Olivia got to fall asleep with Grandpa telling stories and singing songs.
Truly it was a Merry Christmas!
We didn't have enough time to do the Hallam Family Christmas Program/Talent Show on Christmas day, so we did it the day after. Annabelle played 2 piano pieces and also 2 violin songs. Jonah played 3 guitar songs. Saffi and Lizz danced. Grace and Olivia sang Silent Night. Schafer did sound effects. Violet tightened her pigtails.
The grown-ups were assigned beforehand a new talent to learn and present. I did 2 magic tricks. Emmeline lassoed Jonah, Justus made pretzels, David crocheted, David Cenchina sculpted, Ezra was supposed to learn origami but he just made a paper airplane. Susan painted a picture with watercolors.
The next day, Tuesday, Emmeline took Ananbelle, Jonah and Grace ice-skating. Grace used the walker-roller thing, but the other tow know how to do it on their own now. They had a lot of fun.
Wednesday the grown-ups worked together to rip out the carpet upstairs and clean it all out. This is part of a Christmas present for Susan. Then we all loaded up and headed home.
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