Christmas

By: Shelsy

This was Amber's first Christmas! So exciting. This was also the first Christmas we spent together and not with my family. It was really nice! The three of us exchanged our presents first thing in the morning. It was a small Christmas, but we all really enjoyed it. Amber had fun tearing the paper on her presents. She got a set of big lego-style blocks and two train sets that Ryan got for her while we were in PA. As you can see, she really enjoyed chewing on the track. :-) This is a good picture of the cast on her leg, also. It went all the way up to her hip.

Then Ryan made pancakes for breakfast and Shanna came over and joined us before work. Then later in the afternoon we went for a walk (I had a kind of mini-scavenger hunt planned for Ryan that required a stop at Starbucks and ended with one of his gifts). It was a beautiful day. It was so simple and refreshing. Especially because it was sandwiched between a lot of family visits and the general hustle and bustle of the season, it was very relaxing. We just enjoyed each other and watched a Christmas movie in the evening, and then after Amber went to bed Ryan and I sat outside with hot chocolate and Christmas cookies (that is a tradition worth keeping, I think!)

I knitted this stocking for her--it turned out to be huge!

Then the day after Christmas we cleaned up because our friends Ben and Emily would be staying with us for a couple of nights on their way through to Miami! It was really nice to see them--it had been a long time. They are expecting their first baby in June, and I think they enjoyed meeting Amber. We certainly enjoyed having them! They got in really late on the 26th, so we slept in the next day before going out to lunch and hanging out at Downtown Disney. Then they left the next morning. It was really great seeing you guys again! Come and visit again soon! :-)

.