Christmas 2011

This Christmas was A LOT of fun around our house!  Parker is "close" to understanding the concept of Santa, but not quite there!  We spent the weeks leading up to Christmas day looking at holiday lights, talking about the meaning of Christmas (mainly focusing on "baby Justice"....Parker couldn't quite say "Jesus"), following "John" the elf around our house, singing Christmas songs, and of course, lots of talk about Santa Clause and reindeer.  
       So, when Christmas eve finally arrived we were READY!  John and Parker made cookies for Santa and we read "Elf on the Shelf" one last time.  Later that night, after Santa had come and gone (and for those of you wondering, yes we put off ALL assembly until Christmas eve, and no, there was no bloodshed...barely), John downloaded "sleigh bells" to his ipad and attempted to wake Parker with ringing bells and "Ho Ho Hos", luckily it didn't work!  

Christmas morning was a little anti-climatic.  Parker was more overwhelmed than excited.  She just kinda stood there staring at her "pile" of toys not really knowing what to do.  Eventually, she warmed up and began playing with her new things.  We spent the rest of the day lounging around playing with our new toys.

On Monday, John and I dropped Parker off with a babysitter and we headed back to Garmisch/Oberau to meet up with some friends from Texas, James and Eileen Mijares, who are now stationed over here.  We spent all day Monday and Tuesday morning catching up, shopping, and eating.  It was nice to have some "adult" time, but we were both ready to see Parker by Tuesday afternoon!