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This was the first Christmas where both the girls understood the concept of Santa, presents, the tree, lights on people's houses, etc. It was so fun to watch their excitement and the build-up toward the big day. Of course, we had advent calendars to count down to the 25th. One was specific in counting down from 25 to 1, but Annie couldn't understand and got very upset stating that "Miss Sarah says it's December Xth." How could we argue with that, so we counted up to 25.

On Christmas day both the girls ran in to wake us up. Even though we had told the girls the night before to get us first before peeking in the Christmas room, Annie was already aware of some of the items Santa left for them. Sneaky kid! The girls were thrilled to open presents. However, once Mimi received her new baby she was no longer interested in anything else. We actually had to force her to open presents. The girls seemed to receive everything they ever dreamed of, and Mike and I were happy to see their excitement.

Grandma Indiana arrived on the 21st to spend the week with us. The girls were very excited to see her again, and quickly warmed up to her. Annie immediately talked her ear off and asked a zillion questions. We spent a few days of shopping and just hanging out together. Grandma accompanied us to a Christmas Eve party and got to meet a few of Mike's endo classmates and their families. On Christmas Day, we had ourselves a feast with a turkey and all the traditional side dishes. It was delicious. That evening we went to the National Cathedral to see/hear an organ performance. The day after Christmas us girls headed over to Montgomery Mall to take advantage of the numerous sales. The girls were pleased to tag along because they each got a princess dress on sale...Snow White and the Little Mermaid. Those dresses have been on their little bodies every single day since. When it was time for Grandma to leave, everyone promised to write lots of letters and call often. Annie declared on the way home from the airport that she was going to write a letter to Grandma everyday. Unfortunately, Annie is much like me and tends to not follow through with suh tasks. We have written once since though. It was so nice to spend Christmas with Grandma this year.