Christmas 2015

How many times have I written on here that I will regularly blog on the ole Front Porch Lemonades? I don't even want to know that answer, and it has come to my attention that folks (other than my mom) actually spend some time here reading about our family and the things we're doing.  So maybe I should pick this up consistently.  Santa left our family an iMac with a big screen that would be perfect for working with pictures and blogging.  So here we go!

What have we missed since I last blogged Hannah's Pooh Birthday party?  Well we've taken several fun trips including Disney World.  Updates to our master bedroom, entry, upstairs hall, Hannah's bathroom, upstairs hall, and bonus room.  I'm writing these all out here as a motivator for me to take pictures and share what we've done.

But first I want to include pictures of Christmas this year to have them documented!  We had a wonderful Christmas.  Hannah is getting to an age where she understands why we celebrate Christmas and the magic of it all.  We even went to see Santa, and Hannah sat on his lap and told him she would like "Two Mermaids and One Nemo".  Here's a picture I took on my cell of her picture with Santa.

We did Christmas shopping together at Hobby Lobby.

We decorated a gingerbread house that we almost had to wave our parental white flag in surrender after it kept collapsing.  But we persisted onward, and Hannah loved eating the candy decorating the house.

We spent time with those we love.

And before we knew it Advent was finished and Christmas eve was upon us.  Christmas Eve is always the traditional big celebration with the Griffey side of the family.  My brother, Bryan, and his family were here from Texas, and Hannah had so much fun with all her cousins.

Grandma and Granddad gave Hannah Peppa Pig's house.  We are big Peppa fans over here.

This boy keeps growing up.  Sigh.

Katie loved her fairy doll from Grandma and Granddad as well.

Speaking of growing up.  Ashley is now in the middle of her junior year in college.

Our family gave Caroline this new dress that she loved because it's "like Hannah" and wanted to wear it the rest of the day.  She, of course, grabbed Uncle Weston's hand to be in the picture too.

A Minnie Mouse for Caroline from Grandma and Granddad.

Oh the joy of helping your cousin open her present.  :)

After gifts and a yummy ham dinner, we quickly got ready for church.  Since we live so close to my parents, we ran home to get dressed and ready.  We had no exaggeration about 10 minutes to get everyone changed and back out the door.  I preface with this only to explain the way I look in these pictures.

And the traditional grandchildren picture is extra special this year.  Oh how this made me laugh.  And yes, this was the best one out of the bunch!  Poor Katie didn't want to be photographed.  And I promise Hannah had shoes.  She just refuses to wear them in the house.

After Mass, Hannah came to our dining room window to look for Santa.  He wasn't seen, but he did visit our house after everyone was asleep.

Two mermaids and one Nemo!

Reading new books on her new beanbag chair on Christmas morning.

We stuck around our house on Christmas morning and enjoyed our little family.  We cooked a brunch and stayed in our pajamas a lot of the day.  Then we headed over to our big celebration over at Weston's parents new home.  We had a delicious turkey dinner and exchanged gifts.

NuNu and Pops gave Hannah a Minnie scooter that she loves.  She started gliding across the floors instantly on it without any instruction.

After dinner and gifts, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus with our dessert.

I know this was an overload of pictures.  So congratulations on making it to the end!  It was a wonderful and blessed Christmas with everyone we love.