For months now, I have been so excited about giving Faith her new Corolle Nursery Carriage for Christmas. Not only is it a beautiful toy carriage, it is also super sentimental to her mama (and hopefully will be the same for her someday too).
While we were living in England, I was introduced to another American couple living in Cambridge who were both working for a pharmaceutical company. They were two of the most generous people I have ever met and were constantly cleaning out and giving things away (which was awesome for us!). So, anyway, on one of those cleaning out occasions, Natalie asked me if I would like to have her Silver Cross carriage, and I most gratefully took it! I didn't know much about it, but I loved the look of it and quickly discovered it is considered the most classic and elite of English prams! :-)
I did not get to use the pram for very long, because we were given it only a couple of months before we moved back to the States (and it wasn't the most practical of strollers to bring back with us), but I did take our pram to Paris with us! I had so much fun trotting along in Paris with baby Faith peacefully sleeping in it!
Our time in Paris with Brad's family and our two little girls seeing the beautiful sights is one of my absolute favorite memories! (To view our Paris Snapfish Album, click here and to see an abbreviated blog post from our trip, click here.)
And now we have a miniature version of that special pram for Faith to enjoy making new memories with her baby dolls.
In their stockings, they were given new clips for their hair, some candy, and other little treats.
Then we enjoyed a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, egg bake, and clementines.
Breakfast Casserole Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 package crescent rolls
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 cups hash browns- I usually do 3 to 4 cups and I love the Ore Ida hashbrowns that have red pepper and onion in it! :-) It adds a little Texas spice to it.
1 lb. cooked sausage
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Instructions:
Press crescent rolls into bottom of 9x13 pan. Layer the following on top of the crescent rolls: hash browns, sausage and 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese. In a separate bowl mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over layers in 9x13 pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until nicely browned on top.
Then, we enjoyed some beautiful dancing from Faith.
And then in our continued Christmas tradition, we began our gift time by telling the story of the greatest gift of all...our Lord Jesus Christ.
This year, however, we did it a little different. We told the story by using Family Life's "All I want for Christmas". Each of the girls took turns picking one of the small numbered presents under the tree...
Then Brad told them the story of each Bible character.
And then they placed it on the manger scene.
I won't give away box #7, but it is a really sweet way to tell the story of the Gospel.
Onto the Christmas 2011 gifts.... I was given a new Babycakes Cake Pop maker! YAY!
Then, the girls very sweetly helped Aunt Leigha open nearly all of her gifts. :-)
Brad opened one of his gifts from me, three seasons of Lost along with a book called "The Gospel According to Lost". He was pumped!
Yes, I did just say I gave Brad three seasons of Lost. So, you may be wondering why is Anna holding season 5 of Lost? Well, its kind of a funny story, but we have some dear friends who LOVE "Lost" and have been saying for a long time that it was their favorite show. So, this summer while I was at a garage sale and came across the entire season 5 of "Lost" in great condition for $1, I jumped on it! But I couldn't very well give my hubby season 5 without a couple of other seasons too! So I used my favorite internet shopping site, Amazon to buy "very good" used copies of seasons 1 & 2 of Lost too. When I received them in the mail, they were in the wrapping and looked brand new and only cost $15! My husband Brad is delighted and always thrilled when I save money, so it was like two gifts in one for him! :-)
Anna opened her Tag. Jr.
Leigha with a special book of poems about the relationship of sisters with gifts cards to two of her favorite places.
Aunt Leigha made a beautiful pink and green frame with Jillian's name on it!
Anna giving big hugs and cuddles to Aunt Leigha to thank her for her Christmas present.
Faith was very proud of her fun purple polky-dot name made by Aunt Leigha!!
Whoa! Big Presents!
Anna received a Classic Corolle Bebe Doll from Mommy and Daddy.
And Jillian was given A Life of Faith doll, named Elsie Dinsmore
Jillian loves her new doll and is so proud of it. She told this story in her Weekend Journal at school: "I got a Faith dol for cimis hr nam is LC." :-) translated to "I got a Faith doll for Christmas her name is Elsie."
Faith created this cute snowflake wrapping paper at Mother's Day Out. Then Faith helped her Daddy open her gift to us. I love her face of shock and disbelief (I think she forgot what she had put in there!). It was an adorable ornament with a photo with our 4 year old Faith.
Then after presents, and while I finished prepping our lunch, Daddy and Jillian played her new game Qwirkle. It is a pretty tough game (as you can see from Jillian's hand to her forehead), but Jillian is really good at spatial games and did a great job.
Meanwhile Aunt Leigha (wearing her new Bath and Body Works hair band) helped Faith play with her new Lite Bright!
Then we enjoyed a delicious, late Christmas lunch as a family:
We had ham, with loaded mashed potatoes, berry mallow yam bake, squash casserole, glazed carrots, Sister Schubert rolls and two new dishes inspired by our Thanksgiving dinner:
A Brocolli salad: there are so many versions of this salad, but I chose one that included a dressing of mayonnaise mixed with balsamic vinegar and a little sugar, sunflower seeds, raisins, tomatoes, bacon, and chunks of Cheddar cheese! YUMMY!
And finally, we enjoyed the Pioneer Woman's home-made green bean casserole (I substituted the pimentos with cooked red peppers) . It is my new favorite dish for the holidays! It was a great beginning to a wonderful Christmas!
Our Christmas Day to be continued....
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