Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Since we just returned from our cruise on Dec. 22, our Christmas celebrations have been jam-packed into the last few days. While it was neat to see the Christmas decorations and hear Christmas music in the Caribbean, it just didn't *feel* like Christmas until we returned to cooler weather in Kentucky.

We've set out making new family traditions - most of which involve eating, of course. (Yes, I'm still a Bridger...) In honor of Aunt Ellen, we made "gingerbread"....aka graham cracker...houses. Both Elizabeth and Jonathan really got into this, once they realized they could eat all of the decorations!







Here's a picture of Elizabeth's (and Mommy's) final product:



And Jonathan's (as you can tell, he had a little problem with defective mortar):



Don't worry! They both tasted very good:



After running a bunch of errands, we made homemade sugar cookies to leave out for Santa yesterday. Elizabeth approved the icing recipe for us:



Then we set to work on icing and decorating the cookies:







Elizabeth got a little overzealous with the sprinkles:



She made sure we only left cookies she had decorated out for Santa. Apparently, he's a BIG sugar fan!

The finished products were delicious!





Then, last night, we went to our church's Chrismas Eve service, then out to eat at a Chinese restaurant, then to the Kentucky Horse Park to see the Southern Lights show. We finished up with a quick stop at Gran's house before coming home to get Elizabeth to bed before Santa came.

This morning, David fixed french toast for breakfast. We figured it was our last year for a nice breakfast before Elizabeth learns she's supposed to rush down to open presents right away! Both kids got presents they really wanted from Santa - a dollhouse for Elizabeth and a new Wii game for Jonathan.







Elizabeth was also very happy with her new dress-up clothes and toy wagon.



Our little pink princess!



(Does anyone else think she looks exactly like Aunt Erin as a child in that picture?)

The stockings were also a big hit:







Elizabeth really got into the whole Christmas celebration, which made it a lot of fun.

It's been a great Christmas day. The kids have played with their new toys all day. Jonathan even let Elizabeth "play" with his new game:



I think the pink tutu makes a nice touch, don't you?

Gran and Granddad also both stopped by for a little while to see all the new toys. Now, our Christmas dinner is cooking and Elizabeth is napping. Hope you all had as great a day as we have!