Sledding and Dancing!

After opening Santa presents and stockings on Christmas morning we enjoyed some yummy homemade cinnamon rolls, got ready, and headed to Joe's parent's house to celebrate with all of Joe's family. This was also Eli's first long(ish) car ride-2 hours. He did wonderfully! Or so I heard. We had to take our vehicle in addition to my parents rental because we couldn't quite fit all of us, our luggage, and the dog in one. Joe decided that I needed a break so I drove our car all by myself (well, I did have the dog). I played the Christmas music loud, sang along, and ate an entire bag of chocolate covered pretzels! It was a nice break.

Anyway... we had a wonderful day with Joe's family including a delicious meal and amazing desserts (the Almond Joy cheesecake made by Joe's Aunt Cindy was incredible)! Joe's family likes to have everyone open their gifts all at once- this year it felt like a frenzy! I could barely keep up with Lily who was tearing through every present put in front of her. She may have liked ripping open the wrapping paper more than anything!:) Lily and Eli got sleds from Joe's sister. While it may be a while before Eli gets to use his Lily was ready to try hers out immediately. We hadn't planned on doing anything outside so we didn't bring much snow gear, but Joe still found some somewhat warm clothes and bundled Lily up so she could try out her new little sled (notice in the pictures that she is still wearing her dress shoes- they were the only ones we brought)!

After sledding in the backyard and dessert I tucked myself away in a bedroom to nurse Eli when I heard lots of laughing and clapping. I came out a bit later to find Lily entertaining the entire family with her dancing! Of course she couldn't dance for them until she put her Christmas dress back on, but once she did she became quite the little entertainer. She would choose a partner and together the two of them would do a little dance in the middle of the living room with the rest of the family in a circle around them watching. At the end of each dance Lily would proudly take a bow and everyone would clap. Then Lily would choose a new partner and everything started all over again! Oh my goodness it was just too much- our daughter is just full of personality. This went on for probably half an hour. Apparently she really was paying attention during the Nutcracker! It was actually quite wonderful Christmas entertainment!