Christmas Morning

So  much excitement Christmas morning at our house!  The girls (Lauren) were up at 6:00.  Well, Lauren was up and woke up Addison.  They had a slumber party in Addison's bed and when Lauren was ready to wake up, she woke up Addison.  

They went through their stockings and enjoyed their American Girls dolls that Santa brought.  

Addison got Saige...

Lauren got Julie.  

I mentioned this on Face book but I will talk about it here.  The girls got 4 gifts.  Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read.  

Lauren wanted a Scooter and Just Dance 2014.  Addison wanted Lego's and a Barbie movie.  They both needed PJ's, hats, gloves, shoes.  Lauren got a few outfits from Justice and Children's place.  Addison got some clothes from Children's Place and Gymboree.  They both got lots of new books as well!

The girls got me 2 new scarves.  I love them both! 

Zoe got a few new toys and a new bone of course.  

 This hat for Addison is so cute!

Santa also brought the bikes for the American Girl dolls and some new outfits also! 

One of the many books Lauren got.  

She wanted to ride her scooter so bad!  So she did in the basement.  

They loved the matching PJ's!

Oh, and they both got new robes :) Addison tried to sleep in it a few nights ago.  

Lauren was thrilled to get this vest! She wanted one just like Mommy!

Then one last final gift was a few days at Great Wolf Lodge.

Which we just got back from.  Yea, it was awesome! 

Christmas Eve Traditions

I love Christmas Eve as much as Christmas morning.  There are so many traditions and memories surrounding Christmas Eve.  

Addison started tracking Santa as soon as she woke up!

Sugar cookies were iced, chocolate chip cookies were made for Santa, and a cake for Jesus.  It was a busy day!

Then is was off to church.  

Then dinner at Mama's house with the my parents and sister's family. 

The girls with their great grandma.  

Always trying to get the 4 grand kids in a picture together.  Nearly impossible, but we still try.  

Nana is under there somewhere!

Then we came home, stopped by the neighbors house real quick, and Mark and I opened up Christmas jammies as well.  

Cookies and milk for Santa then off to bed.  

Then Santa's elves were hard at work getting everything ready for Christmas morning.  

Omaha Christmas Celebration

This week of Christmas is flying by and if I don't start blogging about Christmas, I never will.  And, I don't want to forget a thing!

Rae Ann is the favorite cousin by far and as a busy high school girl, we did not see her until Saturday around 5:00.  The girls were ready.  

After dinner was presents.  The girls were so excited.  We loved the movie Frozen and Addison was thrilled to get one of the princesses.  

Lauren asked for Monster High Dolls.  She got several so she is happy. 

I just love this picture of Mark and Lauren.  Twins for sure!

Everyone seemed to love all their gifts.  

Mark and Addison enjoyed looking through old pictures...

While Lauren and I tried to hard to get the bracelets made! It was a good weekend and a fun Harding Family Christmas! 

Visit with Grandma Merritt

Before I get to all the Christmas posts I wanted to take some time to remember today.  Today we went to visit my Grandma, the girls great grandma.  They don't have much of a relationship with her because she is 91 years old and unable to talk anymore.  She has had Dementia for a few years now, but is actually very healthy from a medical standpoint.  She is very happy and content in her current nursing home.  

I thought it would be nice to make some arts and crafts for the for the residents of the facility.  It was something for the girls to work on over Christmas break and something for them to do while we were at the nursing home.

Addison was extremely brave and passed out most of the penguins her and Lauren made.  Addison has never known a stranger and will talk to anyone..and apparently hug anyone as well!  

Nothings seems to phase her.  One old guy really seemed to like her and kept giving her several hugs.  Little did he know he was running over her foot with his wheelchair over and over again.  Addison didn't seem to mind.  She said it didn't hurt. One tough kid as well.  

Lauren warmed up after a while and decided to hand out a few of her own.  Everyone was very appreciative and it really seemed to brighten up the day.  My Grandma seemed to recognize us and responded to a few things while I tried to talk to her.  I think it was good learning experience for the girls as they were full of questions after we left.  It is nice to see my Grandma well taken care of in her simple little world as it is today.  

A Few More Christmas Things

We put the Gingerbread house together...although Addison was not quite ready at first.  

Then Lauren got a smile out of her.  

Then we ended up with a pretty cute finished product.  

Addison performed before Church the other morning.  

Super cute listening to all the kids sing.  

Addison took her job very seriously.  No smiles from her this morning, but a super cute performance by these little ones!