Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas Day. Honestly, it was nearly perfect. We woke up and took Natalie downstairs where she received a wonderful surprise - new toys! Her favorite gifts were the puppy and stroller. They were the first things she went for and each continues to receive daily use and love.

I especially love the two purses on the arm while pushing the stroller. She is such a girl!

After opening presents we went to church for an hour of singing and scripture reading about the prophecies and then actual birth of the Savior, which was wonderful and uplifting. Natalie was also hit in the head by a flying piece of a Nativity thrown by a little friend. I truly couldn't tell you who thought it would be a good idea to have a wooden Nativity set up at toddler height in the foyer of our building. I will not be sad to see that and the fake trees with millions of ornaments go. Luckily it was only a minor injury and then we were off to Grandma and Grandpa Marsh's house for more present opening and a delicious brunch.
We took and an official "family Christmas Day picture" and then a bunch of shots of Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandchildren. We are so lucky to live within 30 minutes of all Natalie's cousins! Her older cousins (Jimmy, Dane and May) are so nice to her and always include her in their games. She also has two younger cousins both born around 10 months after her (John and Drake). I think they'll all have so much fun together as they get older!

We relaxed in the afternoon back at our house and then hosted Christmas dinner for Russ's parents and his sister's family - Tiffany, Abraham and cute baby Drake. No pictures from that, but I'll just tell you everything turned out really yummy. We skyped with my parents and brothers after dinner and it was the perfect ending to our day. Lest you think we totally lucked out with the perfect Christmas Day, well, we did, because the very next day Natalie began cutting her fourth tooth and was miserable for a solid week because of it. It was a Christmas miracle that it didn't start a day earlier!