Christmas!

We had many Christmas celebrations again this year! And I was lazy, so I lumped all the pictures together in one post. :) Our first Christmas was with my Zylstra extended family the weekend before Christmas. 

When Bella and Hayden were told it was picture time, they promptly went to Grandpa and Grandma's laps. :)

However, there were quite a few other great-grandchildren who had to join in! There was definitely a lot of little children running around that evening!

All of the Zylstra grandchildren and spouses- only a couple were missing.

Bella was very excited to open her first presents of Christmas and definitely got the hang of it this year. Here she is with some pretty princess dolls from one of her cousins! 

We had our family Christmas the Friday night before Christmas. Actually got a successful family picture with a timer, pretty impressive! 

Our sweet little girls- definitely our favorite present. :)

Bella was loving on Grace during these pictures!

This year, we gave Bella a Calico Critters dollhouse with furniture and a kitty family. Those sets were around when I was a little girl and were one of my favorite toys, so I knew I wanted to get Bella one when she was old enough. She didn't quite get it when she was opening them as they were all in individual boxes!

Bella also got to open some presents for little sister- we got her a few things just so Bella wouldn't think she was the only one getting presents. :)

And this is how Miss Grace enjoyed the evening!

Mommy had lots of fun putting together the little dollhouse that night. And Bella has had hours of fun playing with it since then! I don't think she moved from it for about 2 hours- she loves playing with little tiny toys, especially if the family is little kittens. :)

On Christmas Eve day, we headed over to Grandma Sheri's and Grandpa Doug's to assist with cooking the meal. Bella had lots of fun playing at Grandma's house for a whole day, especially when trying on the Santa hat. :) She also got to take a nap in Mommy's old bed, which was very exciting for her! Now everytime we go over there, Bella wants to go read books in "Mommy's old bed." 

                                      

Our annual family photo- took a little photoshop work to get a good one courtesy of Derek, but the finished product was successful!

Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri with all of their grandchildren!

Our little family. :) It was surprising how many good smiles we got out of Bella that night!

And then it was time to open presents! Bella was quite funny opening presents- she got a little Sleeping Beauty doll and only wanted to play with that, rather than open any of her other presents. "You do it Mommy" and "I'm still playing!" were heard when we told her it was time to open another one. I guess that's a good way to have it!

Daddy cuddling a sleeping Gracie on the couch. :)

Bella opening her stocking presents from Santa on Christmas morning. I'm not sure if she got the Santa concept or not, but it was fun for her to leave out cookies and milk and see that they were gone in the morning! Next year I'm sure she'll definitely understand it.

Santa brought her some new princess board books, and I'm pretty sure we read those about every day for the next week. 

                                     

The day after Christmas is when we celebrated with the De Haan family. It was decently nice outside, so we took the picture outside- such a change from Christmas' in the past!

Bella had a slight obsession with this Elmo doll everytime we were over there- which is silly because she doesn't even watch Elmo anymore.

Bella opening her presents!

I think she wanted Elmo to open a present here. Oh Bella. :)

Playing with her new vet kit from Aunt Anna.

Mommy had cuddle duty with sleeping Grace on this day. All of the Christmas stuff was getting tough for Grace- she wasn't her normal happy self since we were out and about so much!

Watching Cayden play on his Leap Pad. :)