Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Mann family!

We were able to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home this year; our parents are so gracious in allowing us to do that! We have been all over the place (from Texas to South Carolina) since late July, and really wanted a few days of rest at home! For Christmas Eve, we made all kinds of wonderful treats and finished up wrapping some presents. I made a special dinner, and we even got to use our fine china - I don't think I've gotten that out since Addie's been born!

When I got Addie up this morning, I told her that it was finally Christmas - Jesus' birthday! She rubbed her eyes tiredly, then asked, "Can we open the presents now?!" She has been waiting for days to open those presents, but she did wonderfully waiting until today! Our sweet and excited girl before the festivities....

One of her first presents was a princess dress and shoes! She has played with that all morning! She especially loves it since she can get "dressed" by herself. Later in the afternoon, we watched the Disney Christmas parade, she ran and got her dress and shoes from her room, put them on, and waved like she was one of the princesses in the parade! Too cute!

Justin opening one of his presents - some odds and ends from a Science store. He got everything from a gyroscope to a miniature vise. He played all morning just like Addie!

Addie's "big present" was a baby doll that cries, talks, crawls, fusses, and lots more! They have been inseparable! (We already found the "off" switch when baby is too loud for Mommy and Daddy.)

We got Addie a keyboard - Justin wants to begin honing her musical interest. She has cracked us up with her "singing and playing".

I got Justin a waffle maker; it is actually for all of us, but he loves kitchen gadgets. Maybe now I can have breakfast in bed?!

He also got a new PS3 game and has played it nonstop! He should finish it by tomorrow! (I don't mind him playing - it is his way of unwinding after his test this week. He had studied for 8 hours plus since Thanksgiving for it, so I think he deserves a break!)

Each year, Justin gets me a Byer's Choice caroler - a tradition he started our first Christmas. This year's was a Salvation Army woman. I made it a point this season to stress to Addie the importance of charity. I had her help pick out and donate presents to boys and girls for our local Christian radio station (http://www.myflr.org/). Thus, the caroler represents my efforts in teaching Addie the importance of giving, especially during Christmas.


My big present as an iPod nano! I love it and have to mention that the iTunes store is VERY addictive and it is easy to spend LOTs of money downloading songs!

We have really enjoyed our day together and look forward to seeing the rest of our family in the next few days.