Christmas Time

Preparing for Christmas requires one to be well fed.  

Vivien has been lining up her orange slices lately.

 And Rafe just likes to have an endless supply to shovel into his maw.

When one has a full belly, one has the energy to play!

Rafe is a proud member of the crawling team.

And an occasional member of the kneeling team.

And a new member of the climb-and-stand team!

He also fills time washing windows.

Vivien engages in all kinds of imaginative play.  She does laundry.  

She prepares the "sacrament."

She keeps her stuffed animals cozy and in good company.

And she dresses for a day on the slopes.

They both helped Grandma Paula a lot with arranging and rearranging the ornaments on the tree this year.

And then it was Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we hit the pinata.

 And went to the church and watched Melanie do a ballet routine to Sleigh Ride.  Vivien was inspired.  

In the morning, we opened presents.

They needed a little help getting started, but unwrapped with enthusiasm.  

Rafe's first Christmas!  Love taking pictures in jammies with bed head.

We had stuffed French toast for breakfast.

And spent the rest of the day lounging about and enjoying presents. 

 

Vivi was very happy with her Happy Birthday Barbie.

And Rafe was pleased to have a remote he could actually push the buttons on without causing any mayhem.  

My mom enjoyed her Scylla socks (I made her pose for this picture so I could look at it when we move and feel like I'm cuddling up on the couch for a good chat).

And I got the "Hey, that's pretty cool" I wanted from Dad when he opened his Peak Bagger map.

Justin and Kaitlyn wore their matchy sweaters all day long.   They'd make anything look cute.

Rafe and Vivi like playing with their new silkies as well.  I took a movie of it, but blogger hates movies, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

We had Christmas again the next day.

 Proud Navy parents!