"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

I love this time year... in fact Christmas and New Years are my most favorite time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love presents just as much as the next person, however, I love the family togetherness that comes during this season. Those who are regular readers of this blog know how much my family means to me and it is during this time when stress is low and people allow themselves to relax that we really get a chance to have fun together just being together. I love Christmas... I love it for what it means. For the birth of our savior and the love he shows to me everyday. I also love Christmas because of the traditions that our family has. Our Christmas consists of many family gatherings opening presents, eating food, and just spending time with each other. I also love Christmas because it signals the end of something old and the beginning of something new. This year was a hard year for our family... but sitting there at one of the many parties I was reminded that it didn't really matter what happened during the year, but that we survived the year as a family and we are here together to start a new one. That is a great blessing to me and that is why I love Christmas! So to all you blog readers (hehe) I wish you a very late but very Merry Christmas. I hope your Christmas was filled with fun and laughter and family like mine was. This was definitely the best Christmas we have had in a long time and I owe that to my husband, my children, and my family (extended included in there, Blackburns!). I love you and wish you the very best!

Below are some pictures from the last several days. They are kind of in reverse order but I have not really figured out how to fix that - but it doesn't really matter anyway. Enjoy the pictures!

Ella's first present for Christmas morning. She loved this doll until I took it out of the package and took the tags off and than it wasn't near as fun.

Dad having to do an emergency hair implant on Kate's new doll horse. Some of the hair in the mane had fallen out so our handy Andy came to the rescue to fix it up for our Katiebug.

Make-up... need I say more? She was very excited to see she had gotten exactly what she had wanted.

Cute as ever (ignoring the drool/snotty face) - this kid had a great time watching everyone open presents.

This is the first year that Mattie has really gotten into the whole Christmas thing - she went to town!! I had to stop her several times from opening other people's presents because she truly felt they should all belong to her!

Andrew likes to give Thomas a tool for Christmas to add to his collection... any guesses on what this one is?

Thomas finally got his own radio controlled helicopter and promptly broke it upon ripping it from the package. Handy Andy to the rescue again (toy #2 of the morning).

Kate wanted an American Girl doll for Christmas but I still think she is a bit young so Santa found this pretty look-a-like at Target which was a hit for our Katiebug.

"SUSAN!!" Those who know my Mattie know that this is her most favorite show. You may have thought it was Monster's Vs. Aliens but no! It is properly called Susan.

About an hour into the gift opening extravaganza, Ella had had enough. She wanted her bottle and she wanted to be left alone. Still think she is so stinkin' cute!

Stockings... got to have stockings!

More stocking pictures...

Our beautiful Christmas tree! We put it in a different spot and though it was out of the way, both Andy and I felt we didn't like it much there - so next year we will move it back to its predesignated spot.

This is Christmas Eve at Grandma Bonnie's - Thomas was on the computer watching Santa the whole night. Both my kids were starting to question if Santa is real or not, but when Thomas saw him on the computer he shouts, "Mom - he is real, he is real... look there is a real life picture of him on his sleigh!" Well OK, another year averted from Santa questions.

Aunt Chris quickly became Thom's new best friend because she let him play her IPad

Emily and Chris doing girly stuff.

The newest members of our family. My brother Mike got married to Rebbecca in September and we gained two new nieces and a boyfriend!

Amongst the craziness on Christmas Eve.

Grandma Bonnie and Aunt Rebecca.

Little Ella and Grandma Helen.

Posing for the camera... so cute!

Well, that is our Christmas in a really small nutshell. We had all the grandparents come to our house on Christmas morning after presents and we had breakfast and just hung out for the day. After that, we went to our good friends - the Blackburns, to have a terrific dinner and to just visit. The kids got to do a pinata which they are still talking about today. So much fun!! Thanks to everyone who made this season so great!

With love from the Smart Family.