A girl and her grandma.

The excitement of the moving sidewalk was only surpassed by surprising Grandma at the airport, on her birthday, no less!

Sweetest little gift under the tree!

Only second to Easter Sunday, there’s no church service that I enjoy more than Christmas Eve.

With the last hours of secret knitting counting down, this little one came out of bed for some snuggles as I was racing to finish her gift. Not wanting to go back to bed, even as I encouraged her, and my not wanting to keep the knitting under the lap blanket made for some tricky moments, but she eventually nodded off on my shoulder and I continued on my knitting way. These Christmas secrets are hard to keep, but it is worth it!

Catherine is not Santa’s biggest fan, but was able to pull out a nice smile with him this year! Maybe the Mrs Claus dress boosted her confidence!

The red dress was just calling out for some white trim and a black belt! I’m proud of Catherine for envisioning, planning, shopping for and executing her project. More and more, her ideas are becoming reality thanks to her perseverance and increase in skill. Makes a mama smile.

The chattiest church chatters this side of the Mississippi!

A quick visit to a tiny bit of Scandinavia in New England. Loved showing the girls the tomte and the yule goats and we brought home a couple of Christmas decorations. A sweet little stop on our trip home from New Jersey.

Esme had a particular connection with these sea lions we met today, but the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed their antics as well! It was a great afternoon at the Turtleback Zoo– perfect weather, super kids, great company and we had the place to ourselves!