Christmas Eve

As has morphed into our tradition, our Christmas Eve was kicked off with exchanging presents and big hugs with Serpil, before sending her off for the holidays.

Hunter was thrilled with his fancy-smelling pencils, as was Leigh with her spunky new dress.

Later that night, after an hour of failing to sit quietly in church, we gathered at the Pauls for the MessiPaul gift exchange.

As expected, there was much excitement surrounding this event.

Hunter and Nanny enjoyed finding out about their respective futures from Hunter's new Glee Magic 8 Ball...

...while the Littles enjoyed checking out each others' loot.

You Know It's Christmas When...

Nanny assumes her rightful position as Holiday Meal Director

 Lucy tempts the Giant Nutcracker to bite her finger

 We open the door to some surprise Christmas Carolers

 The neighborhood boys gather for the Christmas piano recital, or the Holiday Musicale, as Miss Betty calls it

 Aunt Lynn makes mass quantities of sugar cookies

 Mr. David flies all the way from Hawaii to hunt The Monster Buck with DaddyO

 The New Hopers and Trinity kids crank up the Christmas shows

 ...and the kids willingly pose for Christmas Cards

Christmas at Aunt Lynn's

From the minute we set foot in Aunt Lynn's house, the Christmas fun didn't let up.

It didn't take long for the kids to realize that Aunt Lynn does Christmas right--from the Christmas Carol village, to the Nutcracker Suite, to the giant piano next to the giant Christmas tree, we were all agog with this fabulous holiday palace.

After dinner, Leigh worked it out on Becca's punching bag...

...while Hunter contemplated whether his next move on the Muppets Chess Set should involve Miss Piggy or Fozzie Bear.

The next Sheryl Crow

The next morning, the rest of the cousin contingent arrived for the Annual Sugar Cookie Bake-Off in Aunt Lynn's kitchen.

Will was proud that his cookie was able to convey such a loving holiday sentiment...

...while Leigh, oblivious to Will's Tall Man concoction, focused on eating cookies and loving Blakie.

Pretty Plaid Princess

Thinking that she was done with birthday presents until next year, Leigh was super-thrilled when she received a big, beautifully-wrapped package from Nana & Papa in the mail.

Her excitement mounted as she realized she was getting some lovely accessories...

....to match her beautiful new, fancy dress!

Thanks, Nana & Papa--you're the bomb!!

Wild Kingdom

The kids are thrilled to serve as the canvas as Serpil continues to refine her face-painting skills.

The girls took their feline ferociousness very seriously, but were happy to soften it up for a snuggle with their favorite artist.

The boys were happy to be part of the Wild Kingdom as well...

...while Lucy was just happy to fire up her standard, cheese-eating grin for the photo op.

Pump It Up Redux

Just when we thought we were done with jumping around in plastic houses, Leigh decided that she wanted her birthday party to be held at Pump It Up. SO, for the fourth time, we gathered a truck load of kids and ordered a slew of big pizzas to celebrate. 

Leigh and her two New Hope BFFs, Kaylin and Christiana, anxiously awaited the arrival of the New Hope boys.

Poor Sandy had to deal with Leigh's perpetual chasing & loving, but was a good sport about being the object of her affection.

Jackie modeled her new toothless grin...

...while Lu pondered whether she liked her Daddy giving LeighO a birthday squeeze or not.

The obligatory group shot...

...and the 4th consecutive Princess Cake. I hope we have a new interest by next year, as I'm not sure how many more times we can reinvent this theme in lard.

Leigh was happy to pose with her buddies in the the big birthday chair, while the older boys took the opportunity to display how cool they are, despite attending a lame party for 4-year-olds.

Lucy was more than happy to work on a candy cane, while big brother demonstrated his interpretation of what happens when Joe Cocker meets a leprechaun.