First Noel

Our first Christmas celebration this year was with the Lowes.  We headed down to Springfield the Saturday before Christmas.  Shortly after we arrived Ella was anxious to open gifts so that is what we did.  The gifts then provided entertainment for the rest of the day.  Sam, Caleb and Ella played outside with Sam's tailgate games and Ella worked on a lot of her craft projects she received.  Sarah helped her put together a loom and she made a whole purse that weekend.  Ella also got pearler beads that provided a lot of fun craft time for everyone.  
Sunday morning started with a huge breakfast.  Dana made eggs, bacon, hash browns and sausage, John made gravy and I made pancakes.  Dana said this is the tradition when Hannah comes home from college.  We all definitely got our fill that morning.  Sunday evening Sam went to spend the night with his friend Lucas and the rest of us did the traditional sugar cookie decorating.  There were a lot of laughs and some good and not so good cookies made.  
Since John and the kids didn't have work or school we were able to stay around most of the day Monday.  Everyone met at Nakato at 4:30 for an early dinner to finish our holiday. It was a great time spent with family.