Our Christmas in Pictures

I should begin by warning you: this will be very long, mostly because of the pictures...

Our Christmas Eve began like the previous years of marriage. My day went away cooking and prepping everything I could leave ready before heading out for candlelight service at church. So, with a chicken lasagna (my hubby´s special request for Christmas dinner this year) in the fridge and ready to bake, cinnamon rolls (our traditional Christmas morning early morning snack), and a few batches of rum logs (our thanks to dear friends) we headed out for church all decked out in pretty clothes.

The service was great and we had special fun as our candles couldn´t stay lit due to our daughters´excitement and eagerness to blow them out! You know, it was a celebration of Jesus´s (sp?) birthday, so after singing you just had to blow them out!

The fun part began after the service, though. Ben said we needed to go to some friends´house to pick up something he´d been trying to put together. See, in trying to bring me a taste of my Guatemalan tradition, he had been trying to get me fireworks. His original plan was to set them off in our property, but also in good keeping with Guatemalan tradition, we were invited in for some food and fellowship and ended setting off the fireworks at their house. Simply lovely!

We then came home and put little girls to bed after opening one gift... the rest is best explained by pictures:

This is Elena´s reaction upon realizing that there were actually more than two presents under the tree this morning. With everything going on this month, and Adriana (and a cat) to train about not opening gifts already sitting under the tree, we decided to leave only the first two gifts we´d already placed there. We kept telling her she´d get a chance to open lots of gifts on Christmas morning and by last night she was increasingly upset saying, "No, only TWO presents under the tree!!!" Hence this picture capturing her reaction upon finding so many more presents there this morning!

This is what the tree looked like this morning...

Little girls ready to open presents!!!
Elena, showing off her most special gift!

Adriana, posing with hers...

Our breakfast table... with a last minute bouquet made up with the flowers salvaged from an arrangement used in church this past week.

After our snack at home we headed off to Dad and Mom L´s for family Christmas with the Moores. Here a portion of the happy bunch ready to open away!

Elena, opening the doll Maama made for her...

Adriana, just showing her newest "smile"

Another view of the bunch and Elena getting a gift.

Adriana now shows off the doll Maama made for her.

And these next pictures, I just couldn´t resist. Elena got a kaleidoscope from the Moores and after Adriana saw everybody take a look at it, she decided to figure it out herself...

"It doesn´t seem to work on the nose...

...or the mouth...

I know it´s got to be somewhere on the face..."

And so, after a very full day we came back home... Elena is still a little puzzled that she didn´t give Jesus his birthday hug and we didn´t have cake, but quickly forgave the situation at the opportunity to play with all the toys. We are happy and thankful for a full life but above all things for the salvation that was made available to us on a day like today... Merry Christmas to all!