Christmas 2006

M E R R Y * C H R I S T M A S !

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
We did!
Pat had some time off and it was so wonderful to have him around. Pat and I were both battling a virus, so we took turns getting up with Miyah in the mornings so we each had opportunity to sleep in. Pat even brought me breakfast in bed a few mornings! What an incredible husband I have!!

While he was off we had time to get some things done around the house. We got the kitchen painted (no more wallpaper!!) and even found some time to have some fun together. What kind of Christmas would it be without bowling? It had been a while since we'd gone bowling (and Pat wanted to practice up before his bowling outing with the guys), so we took the kids one afternoon.

Matt beat us all both games!

Miyah LOVED baking cookies this year. Actually, she pretty much played in the bowl of flour while we rolled the dough and cut. But she was thrilled when she was given icing and sprinkles! We caught her licking the icing more often than decorating the cookies, I'm afraid. There must have been more saliva on those cookies than icing. Sorry to our extended family who ate some of those cookies (just kidding)...we did separate her cookies from the other (edible) ones.

Hands in flour...

Hands in mouth....



Christmas day was quiet; just our immediate family. Miyah was SO excited to wake up and look for baby Jesus. One of our favorite traditions is that Christmas morning baby Jesus is hidden under a new star oranament and the kids have to find him. The first one to find him opens the first present. Well, don't tell Miyah but the kids let her find him first...they're a little old for that tradition. You can see where she found it. The star this year was made by a woman in Yunnan (Mei Lin's province). It was our way to remember and "include" Mei Lin in some way.

Megan woke up at 6 AM on Christmas morning. She was dressed and ready before the rest of us were awake. I think she was a little excited.
For some reason, Miyah told every Santa whose lap she sat on that she wanted a Dora and Superman game and skunks...yes, skunks. I have no idea where that came from, but when she stuck to her story up through Christmas Eve it was time for Daddy to head to Target for a Dora game and Superman toy. The skunks seemed unlikely so we didn't even try. We rarely talk about Santa at our house so it wasn't a big deal. Just sad that she wasn't going to get the only things she'd specifically asked for.

Daddy to the rescue. Here's the Superman toy......

Miyah in the tutu Nana gave her....

My sister, Tracy, and her family and my mom and dad came to stay a few days after Christmas. We had so much fun. I'll post about that visit later when I get a chance.