And, it's over.  I am enjoying the peace and quiet tonight as I watch the news and have a little computer time by Christmas tree light.  PJB is still awake because, well, she looked like this on the way home this afternoon...



She would kill me if this was on Facebook, but she'll never see it here.  The sun was shining in the window and I didn't adjust the flash and I was actually just praying we would make it home without a speeding ticket, so please excuse the poor quality of the photo. 

I'm trying out a cool new app tonight that automatically sends your pics from your phone to a secure page on Google +.  Very convenient! 

This year we did more traveling over the holiday than we typically do.  We had a little bit of a rough start yesterday morning (car issues), but God answered my prayers and redeemed our celebration!  I'll just insert here that my man is not a fan of holidays.  He particpates for my sake, and I believe he enjoys it more than he thinks, but he would rather not drive in a car (very ADHD) and deal with other holiday travelers.  He prefers sleeping in his own bed and using his own bathroom and just being in the comfort of his place.  For the past 8 years we've pretty much contained our Santa celebration to our home, leaving to have lunch at my parents' house.  For the past three years (since we've been in this house), my family has joined us  mid-morning Christmas day to open gifts and prepare lunch here.  With Christmas being on Sunday this year, and being sort of torn about the whole church then travel one way or the other for lunch thing, I proposed we just go ahead and stay Christmas Eve at Mom & Dad's.  The man agreed and so we did. 

We started out Saturday by heading the opposite direction to visit my in-laws.  My mother-in-law is a big fan of my sugar cookies, so I had to make sure she got some while they were fresh.  Jamie's step-father gave each girl a surprisingly nice cash gift : ) Russ, Jamie's brother, and his girlfriend were visiting at the same time and we helped get my sister in law set up on her new iPad.  Carrie Jo is 40 years old and has cerebral palsy.  I hope she's able to really enjoy her new toy!  I need to sit down and research some apps that might be easy for her to use.  After a really nice time together, we moved on toward Oklahoma.

I'm being entirely too chatty -- a common problem for me when I'm tired -- OK, a common problem for me most of the time.  I'll just move along and share a few pictures.  You know, I was always so very envious of those gals who are super creative and have those amazing family scrapbooks.  Well, this blog here is it.  This is our scrapbook, so I'll just continue as such!



Uncle Russ-Russ getting Carrie Jo on-line.  She was beyond excited!



Jamie got his gift (new iPhone) earlier in the week.  PJB is our resident expert on all things Apple related.



I love this picture of my Molly.  She has been super joyful the past few days!



Lilah loves her Uncle Russell!



Jamie's stepfather is a big collector.  This guy scares me every time I walk past the kitchen table. 



Candlelight and carol service -- it's been a long time since I've been.  Sweet, sweet time of reflection at the end of a pretty hectic day.



Back to the parentals' house for party food!  It's funny how that stuff I wouldn't touch as a kid is just delicious now. 



The sis and I



The man and I (see!  He's having fun!)



It wouldn't be Christmas without a child in a dog crate.  This ended badly, just FYI.


But not so badly that the kid couldn't recover in time to give us some quality entertainment with her maracas.  Note -- pink sombrero on my mom's head makes this even more fun.  We laughed until we hurt; she danced until we forced her to stop.



Big fun!



Finally, after a good night's sleep, it's Christmas morning!  You can't see the other side of the tree or the Santa gifts. 



And, it begins!  Stockings are always first and, in my opinion, always best.  The girls' stockings this year held an assortment of costume jewelry, makeup, hair stuff, hats, phone accessories, art supplies, and Ghiradelli squares.  If I do say so myself, Santa did a great job on this year's stockings.



Molly's "play with" this year was a phone.  Her first.  Ugh.  Ugh in the sense that I'm just not ready for her to be growing up.  Santa found a bling-bling zebra case and big sister helped her navigate around this morning, so Molls was good to go.  She's so happy and has thanked us several times for a wonderful Christmas. 



Lilah got sidetracked and helped Daddy with his stocking that was full of manly odds and ends.

After the dust (wrapping paper) settled, Lilah sat down to spend some time with her new 3DS.  I was opposed to this gift, but she wanted it and she has played and played and played with it today.  I'll have to figure out how to upload the pics she took with it because they are flat-out funny. 





Showing Papa her new toy



Lilah and PJB got new boots today.  Lilah's were from my gram and are sequined with bows on the sides.  She loves the ruffled boot socks that Gram also bought for her.  PJB's are Ugg and are what she chose for her "wear" this year. 



Downloading apps!



All three girls chose new bibles for their "read" gift, independently of each other.  I think that's really cool and I believe it shows that God is working in their hearts and they have a desire to be in His word. 



My sister and I had a quick chat about remembering how dressy everyone used to be on Christmas.  We always had a new Christmas dress and new shoes and curled hair...  Lilah is the only child who will cooperate with me in this regard and even she wouldn't let me roll her hair in a sock bun last night.  No Christmas curls... 



Mom and girls



All the Battles! 



For our birthdays last year I had an apron monogrammed for each of us so we'll match on holidays.  There's a little bling on them which isn't showing up in the picture and we plan on having some sort of ribbon or other detachable accessory to add for future festive times -- a Thanksgiving one, a Christmas one, an Easter one, a birthday one... you get it...  This year I'll start the little girls aprons in white with black monogramming.

I'll have better pictures to post later.  These are just a few of the phone shots I took today : )  Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!