Christmas crazy

Practicing their Santa beards 

Thankfully after Elisa's Daisy Scout ceremony on the 20th, we made a quick trip to get donuts at Peter Pan Bakery. They had everything. So good. 

The next day I made this cake for a tree trimming party at the Burns family apartment. It was swirled with red and green inside and pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Christmas Eve was full of family and friends. Mom and Dad arrived that afternoon to a gray and foggy city. I finally made the ornament that mom had given me at Thanksgiving and we spent the evening at Carmen's house celebrating the holidays with friends and lots of good food. The weather was so mild and balmy we really could have walked home. On the way to the car, the girls enjoyed a few of the lights strung around the neighborhood. And of course, I had a lot of work to do once we made it home. But still I managed to catch the end of "It's a Wonderful Life." And for that glorious few minutes, I was overcome with the wonder and beauty of that night. What more could I ask for? Oh, yes, sleep...

And then it was Christmas morning and the girls were up and at it. We built so many toys that day I lost count. And we played and hung out at home all day long. It was a nice relaxing day even though Nacho wasn't there to share it with us. That was really the only downside this year. We didn't have a big dinner or invite anyone over the night which was actually just fine. The girls didn't nap, so it was probably best that they made it to bed on the early side. But before they slept, we had a peek at the lovely cityscape visible from their room. What a gorgeous clear night in New York City. And that moon! Wow. It was the perfect little slice to top off our Christmas. This is always one of my favorite days of the year and I was happy to say it still felt that way even though we weren't all together. Grandparents made up for a lot. Glad they made it after all.