Christmas was simple but beautiful. All the decorations that graced the house fit nicely into place as they had the year before. It's amazing how quickly the house can feel magical with a few twinkly lights. I guess we were going with the transportation theme this year. Emma got a pink car and Ellie and Paige got razors among other things. John and I joined the millions of parents all over the world, as we sat in a whirlwind of wrapping paper trying to figure out how with so many hours of preparation it can be over in the blink of an eye. It was a wonderful memory to add to our collection!! 
I love this picture of the girls holding their Christmas angels and new robes from Nana! We weren't sure Emma would even want to wear hers. To our surprise, we had to fight her to get it off before bed. It was fun to see them all squeaky clean with dripping wet hair, proud to be sporting their new gift.
This is the gift I was most excited to give the girls. They had been begging me for quiet some time to get their ears pierced. John said they at least needed to wait until their 30Th birthday!! Somehow I was able to make it happen. When they looked at their earrings Ellie said, "Mom, we don't have our ears pierced!" It didn't take to long for them to realize what was happening. I'm so glad we were able to capture this moment.
My Dad, Diane and Marcus were able to come down a few weeks before Christmas to celebrate the season a little early. We exchanged gifts and went to Jo's Crab Shack for dinner. It was a lot of fun and we we were so grateful to spend that time together.
This was another gift that the girls were pretty thrilled about. Grandpa and Grandma Thompson gave the girls a Calico Critter house with many little critters to live in it. They were beyond excited and beyond spoiled. I think the adults had just as much fun as the girls getting it all put together!! There were so many people that contributed to us having such a wonderful Christmas season. I wish I could document every single gift and every act of kindness we received. Each one meant so much to each of us. I am always amazed at the amount of love that is packed into each gift. I just want everyone to know that we felt it with all our hearts. I hope we don't forget the gift of giving as we start this next year. I loved talking to my girls about the Savior and his birth. We went around and talked about what gift we could give him this next year and it was really sweet. Oh, why cant I just freeze time. I love to see the perfect innocence radiating from their twinkling eyes. I feel truly blessed!
