Merry Christmas, Merry Merry Christmas

Whew. Another Christmas is in the books, and boy did we have a wonderful weekend. After delicious dinners,  plenty of gifts and entirely too many Christmas cookies - I'd say we had a successful holiday. 

Last Saturday we celebrated early with my parents and Austin since they were heading to Missouri. Mitch and I brought dinner over to the Schumer house (our favorite BBQ - Baker's Ribs) and prepared for our Christmas celebration round two. 

Since Harper's birthday was less than 2 weeks ago - she had this whole "opening gifts" thing down. I'd even classify her as a gift opening veteran. She had no problem ripping open gift after gift, and the girl is certainly spoiled. She loved her new slide from Gma Trish and Papa Jim - not to mention the super soft penguin Pillow Pet from Uncle Austin. You would never know she just had a 1st birthday a couple weeks ago based off the pile of gifts she walked away with. 

Mitch and I decided to bring one of our gifts to each other over to my parents to exchange that night. When I opened my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer - I was shocked! This is something I've admired since we registered for wedding gifts, and now I'm a proud owner of a beautiful silver mixer. I can't wait to finally have some time this weekend to use it! After opening my gift, I felt like Mitch might be a little let down when he opened his new sweater. Talk about gift upstaging.

Mitch wasn't the only guy who wow'd his lady with a gift. When we were all done opening presents, my Dad pulled out a Shane Co. bag and handed it to my Mom. She slowly opened the little box and was dazzled by a new ring! The boys did very well this year!

Sunday was another lazy football day - but we did have a visitor. Amanda dropped by for a little bit to bring over some gifts. She totally out-did herself, as usual. Harper loves buzzing around in her pink and blue Cozy Coupe. She has spent plenty of time in the car over the last few days, and recently discovered the gas tank. Open, close. Open, close. It's amazing how that can entertain her for so long!

Christmas Eve we had a full day planned. Austin's flight to Missouri took off that morning, so we started our day dropping him off at the airport. We made it home in time to get ready for 1 o'clock church. Harper got all dolled up in her Christmas dress, and made our way to Lord of Life. It was a lovely service, and seeing all the little kiddos dressed up just melts my heart. Our evening was spent at the Dunnwald's where we had an incredible dinner, and incredible wine. We chatted, laughed, opened gifts, and laughed some more. It was such a wonderful Christmas Eve in the company of great people.

We woke up Christmas morning, and headed downstairs to open stockings. Harper immediately hopped into her Cozy Coupe and insisted on opening all her stockings in the car. It was fun to spend the morning with my little family of three, starting our very own Christmas traditions.

After we wrapped up things at our house we headed over to Bob and Deb's for more celebrating. I love Christmas day for many reasons, but especially because lounge clothes are encouraged. We often lay around most of the day - so comfort is important. Everyone received some amazing gifts, and it was a fun day spending quality time with loved ones. Harper was yet again spoiled rotten, and left with another pile of goodies. Mitch continued to out-do himself in the gift department. To sum it all up - I'm one lucky girl.

So long 2012, you've been amazing - but I'm excited to see what 2013 brings. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and be safe this weekend. Happy New Year!

Until next time...
The Helleen's