Christmas in PA: Behind the Scenes

There were a couple of parties over the course of our trip, but there was also some quality time spent with Oma and Opa getting ready. As you've seen before, Norah really likes to help out in the kitchen or in this case, the dining room. Here she is with Oma, Opa and Matt making Oma's special roll out cookies. I'd give you the recipe, but the secret is really in the method, which must be taught. Patience is also important - so I think Matt will take the lead on maintaining this tradition in our house!


Norah left a few of the cookies she made for Santa. Here she is inspecting the crumbs he left behind!
Roddie got into the present opening action too! I was surprised at how much he liked to play and claw at the paper at only 4 months old! I guess that was some of what was going on with the non stop eating a few weeks back!

Roddie also got in some good QT with Opa in particular - here he is after getting a Xmas day snack from Opa

Norah started out a little slow with the present opening, stopping to inspect and play with each item. Here she is with her first gift, a cool toy from Aunt Zie... I think she gets this tendency from my side of the family :)

Norah is going through a phase where everything that is my favorite is also her favorite - needless to say most things purple are getting a lot of wear these days. Each year, Matt likes to pick out a nice pair of flannel jammies for Norah - and this year he got me a matching pair too! They were a big hit with her AND me, in fact, we're both wearing ours tonight!

Last but not least, here we are, post-present opening on Christmas morning. We had a great trip and some really special times with Oma and Opa - I'm pretty sure they enjoyed us being there too!