Christmas Day

Christmas is so much fun with kids. I have a feeling it's just going to keep getting better for the next few years, too. I don't think I have been this excited about Christmas morning since I was a little girl.

Isla's 1st Christmas! 

 

 She was so sneaky with that wrapping paper. 

You look away for a second and it was straight into her mouth!

Natalie loves her piano ("pinano"), alphabet computer ("pi-cuder") and new blocks. A pretty big part of me hopes she never says those words any differently than she does now. I love it. 

 We attempted a family picture using the self-timer. Fail.

Good thing Russ' parents were kind enough to get a family shot of us later that evening. 

And yes, the girls stayed in their Christmas pajamas all day. Merry Christmas to them. :-)

 

I need to upload the video we took as the girls came down the stairs, but in case I don't get to it, my favorite part of the video is Natalie spontaneously saying "Merry Christmas, Isla!". They melt my heart, those two.

We had a completely relaxing day at home, just the four of us. We were able to do Facetime with my parents and siblings and then had Russ' parents over for dinner. It was lovely.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at Russ' parent's home with both of his siblings and their families, along with Grandmother Black. We love living so close to his whole family.

 It was a special treat to get a few pictures of Isla Lillian with her namesake,
Great-Grandmother Lillian Black. (Russ' maternal Grandmother) 

 Natalie and "Gigi Black" hanging out. "Gigi" stands for Great-Grandmother.
She felt like Great-Grandmother sounded a little too old and asked for Gigi instead.

 Natalie and cousin May playing. I didn't get a picture, but at one point I noticed they were missing and I found them together building block towers and singing Frosty the Snowman in the basement. So cute! May is two years older than Natalie and is so good to her. 

 Natalie passing out presents

 Opening a present from Grandma

 All smiles!

Grandma and Grandpa Marsh with all their grandchildren.

(L-R: Grandma, Isla, Natalie, Dane, Drake, Jimmy, Mayda, Grandpa, John)

I can't believe how much everyone has grown up in just one year! 

Check out the cousin Christmas picture from 2011 here.

 Isla opening her very first Christmas present. 

She was a big fan of the wrapping paper and loved her gift as well. :-)

Temple Lights

Beautiful Sunday evening looking at the lights at the DC temple and checking out the Christmas trees and nativity displays at the Visitors Center.

Christmas Dresses

As a young girl, my sister and I almost always had matching dresses for Christmas and Easter, and sometimes just for fun in-between. My mom is an amazing seamstress and made most of our dresses. My mom tried to teach me to sew, but I wasn't a great student and therefore don't have those kind of skills to use for my own daughters. Fortunately, my mom stepped in and gifted us beautiful Christmas dresses for Natalie and Isla. She didn't make them herself, but she probably could have.
I don't think I could have been more excited when I saw the girls with their dresses on for the first time. Judge me if you like, but when I found out Isla was a girl, one of my first thoughts was how fun it would be to dress them alike for Christmas. I was so right! They are beautiful - the dresses and my girls.

 Taken right after church the Sunday before Christmas. Smiles from both Natalie and Isla and the Christmas tree in the background - a Christmas miracle!

Our first attempt at Christmas card photos...

This was how most of the pictures of the two of them turned out...not too happy.

 My sister-in-law Tiffany kindly got this family shot for us.

 She was all smiles when we told her we were done taking pictures.

 My second attempt at pictures of the girls fared a little better...

Christmas Trains (and buildings)

Every year, the US Botanic Garden does a train display for the holidays. They also do representations of historic buildings from the National Mall and Capitol Hill, all made entirely out of plant materials, which I think are totally amazing. We made a quick Saturday morning trip out of it at the beginning of December. We choose a great time to go, before the crowds arrived and when we could roam a little more freely around the displays. Natalie loved the trains and Isla was content to be wheeled around in the stroller. It is a pretty quick outing and we were in and out in just over an hour. That is the perfect amount of time for our little crew. This will definitely be on the repeat list for future Christmas activities.

 

 

The theme for the train display this year was a Fantasy land. 

It had fairies and castles all throughout the various tracks.

And on to my favorite part...all the beautiful buildings!

 The Capitol 

U.S. Supreme Court

 View of the front atrium

 Library of Congress

Smithsonian Institution "The Castle"

 Jefferson Memorial

On our way out, a nice usher at the event offered to take our family's picture. I really do love living so close to our Nation's Capitol and taking advantage of all the neat things to do here.