Thursday, January 26, 2017

Christmas '16

Christmas Eve, Alexe is at work until 2:30, the kids and I get cracking on cookies.We've been doing this for years now.


Each year the kids are able to do more, and the day gets more enjoyable.  This year we even made the gingerbread dough several days earlier to give it time to cure in the fridge, AND bought a goat cookie cutter.  You know, for all our neighbors who have seen more of our goats than any of us would have liked this past year.

They're holding the food coloring, reserved for the sugar cookies, and one of their favorite parts of the process.


The kids juggled between cutting out cookies, licking bowls, rolling snickerdoodle dough balls in cinnamon sugar, and decorating the cookie bags.


Someone takes her decorating very seriously.


Just in time for Alexe's arrival home, the piles of cookies were cooled, the cookie bags were decorated, and all that was left was to get dressed for church, fill the bags, and head out to deliver them.

We may have overestimated the cookie needs this year.  We gave out more than any previous year, and it didn't seem to make a dent in our mountain of cookies.  None of us minded.


Getting ready for church.  Caspian was so fond of his jackie-bond-esque wedding outfit he opted to wear it again. 


Cookie deliveries.  Our list of stops keeps growing, and this year we let the kids do all the door bell ringing.  This was our first year stopping at our neighbor the mayor's house.  Given how many times he's called me about a herd of goats being on his lawn, it seemed like the right thing to do.




Church, hanging stockings, some singing, and to bed.  Where we opened our eyes early the next morning as our cherubs hopped into our bed with their stockings. 


 

Presents were opened.



Lord of the Rings movies were watched. We do love our traditions.


Trips to the kitchen were made to get more milk and cookies.


Then we suited up for the family hike.  Another annual mainstay.


A hike, with plenty of cookie-related rests on the way.  I think Alexe insisted on some fruit at one of these snack stops.


Alexe loves this dog.


Eventually we made it back to the house, where after feeding the animals we settled in for an evening of more of the same.  

I love our Christmases.


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