It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Earlier this week we got the house all ready for Christmas! We just love the tree and twinkle lights and the pretty music that Christmas brings. As this is our first Christmas, Mom didn't want us to get into the ornaments (us? we would NEVER do that!), so she put up this dining-chair blockade. After a few tries, we infiltrated her initial block and she had to create a new obstacle for us...tricky lady, our Mom, but we're sure to give her a run for her money!

Even though we couldn't help put the ornaments up, of course we gave Mom our generous input: "A little bit to the left!...No, that ornament should NOT be on that branch...Do you think Dad will appreciate his Packer ornament way back there in the corner?...Are those candy canes to eat, or just for show?...I'd like my 'Baby's first Christmas' ornament a little higher please--thank you!...If we can't eat the candy canes, can we eat the gingerbread people?...No?...Bummer." And so on. You get the idea. Elyse: Mom, aren't you supposed to be decorating the tree and not taking my picture? Back to work! We've got a whole house to decorate!

Felicity: Ta-dah! The finished product is sparkly and fancy. Just our style. And what is that stuffed Grinch you see in my lap? Oh, that's just a little something we have to remind us of Daddy...

And being such a momentous Christmas for our family (because we're around this year, of course!), it's the first year our parents have had a 7 foot tree. What a Merry Christmas indeed!