Visiting Christmas Tree Lane

When we were staying at my parents' house I found out that Hallmark was filming a Christmas movie in the next town over, about ten minutes from their house. So, Maddie and I jumped in the car to go check it out. They were mostly done filming so some of the sets were coming down, but we were able to walk around freely looking at everything. 

We loved looking in the windows of this "shop". Then the owner came by and saw us. She said since there was no one else around she would let us in.

 It was so cute inside and so much fun to be able to do that. I was hoping to love the movie after hanging out on the set, but... alas, it wasn't a favorite. Still, we were glad we got to do this!

Christmas Day 2016

The family room was visited by Santa Claus! 

The girls woke up with their new slippers and stuffed animals from Santa in their rooms. 

Maddy had a Pusheen cat and Abi had a homemade Starlight Glimmer. 

Before the chaos...

When Christmas falls on a Sunday we only open stockings before church. We save the gifts for after church. Santa usually does a lot more in the stockings on this kind of Christmas...

They were both so excited looking at what was laid out and looking at their sister's stuff as well. 

Abi thought it was really funny that she had hair elastics in her stocking. 

She has been searching for this pony for a long time. I loved this expression!

We had a Christmas miracle and woke up to snow!

I make the same breakfast casserole every year because you make it the night before and it cooks all night so that it is ready right when you need it Christmas morning... but this will be its last year. 

I love it. It is hearty and delicious. But the kids hate it. So from now on I will be doing something else. It is just way too much wasted food. 

After playing with her stocking stuff for a while Maddy got on the couch for a little nap as she was battling a bad cold. She was pretty miserable. 

Normally our kids stay home from church and/or school for any kind of sickness but I really wanted us to be at church today. I figured that since it was only Sacrament meeting it would be okay to take her. She was pretty tired and was spread out across the bench and next to me most of the meeting but then about halfway through she perked up and was much better the rest of the day. 

When we got home we put our Christmas jammies back on and had some lunch. Then we began the gift opening. 

I love this reaction!

"Mom! They don't even sell these in stores anymore!"

Abi's face. Haha.

Maddy didn't have as many gifts from Santa because her gifts were more expensive than the things Abi asked for, so while Abi continued opening Maddy helped Daddy with his gifts. 

Doug, like me, usually knows what he is getting. I managed to finally surprise him this year with a few things.. one of them was this Tintin toy tube. 

I knew he had made a stained glass window for my library but I didn't know what it was. 

Harry Potter!

Abi with her gifts:
From Santa- Twilight Sparkle tree house, three MLP Equestria Girl dolls, two smaller pony sets, and Baby Flurry Heart.
From Maddy- Lego set

Maddy's gifts: 

From Santa- Zoomer Kitty, Gemma Stone doll, Shopkins Bakery

From Abi- Shopkins Kinstructions set

Family gifts: 

From my Aunt Maureen we got the cool light up glass cube and some chocolates

We got some treats and ornaments from neighbors. 

From one of my uncles we got the cutting board, crackers, ornament, and two movies. 

My gifts from Doug and the girls: 

 3 Harry Potter themed Funko Pops, 2 Once Upon a Time themed Funko Pops, The Case for Beasts book, The Illustrated Chamber of Secrets, Lucy Maud Montgomery's journal volume 2, an Anne of Green Gables themed journal, the stained glass window, and the mini series Doctor Thorne. 

Doug's gifts from the girls and I:

Two of his posters framed, 3 long sleeved raglan style shirts, some Ferrero rocher, the Tintin toys, a book about Coat of Arms, a toaster oven.

This is what was in our stockings: 

Maddy: 2 cat books, candy, an Animal Jam surprise pack, Animal Crossing and a DS case, an animal magazine, a little animal craft kit, drawing set, drawing paper, 2 Shopkins, Shopkins toothbrushes, Pistachios, Zootopia, hairbands, and cookies.

Abi's stocking: 

2 MLP books, cookies, candy treats, a make it yourself MLP pop up book, a magazine, mini pony sets, a pony, a cross stitch set, a MLP toothbrush, MLP pens, a small Lego set, a MLP/ LPS movie. 

Doug's stocking: 

lots of candy and treats, hair gel, toothbrush, The Emotional Thesaurus, and the Goonies. 

My stocking: 

Candy, Independence Day, a few sets of markers and pens, planner stickers, watercolor paper, toothbrush, makeup, nail polish, hair bands, bookmarks, and The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge. 

After we were done with presents we all settled in to enjoy our things. 

Abi wanted to go out and play in the snow. 

Maddy loves her Zoomer. 

That evening we hid the pickle inside the tree and they went searching.

Abi found it and got an extra gift. It was an MLP Equestria Girls doll. 

Finally that evening we got the family room looking mostly clean again. 

It was a wonderful Christmas.