Gaga and Bapa hosted Thanksgiving, but Maggie and I did the cooking. Mags made a killer turkey and the kiddos played like crazy (typical...they didn't like the Thanksgiving dinner).
Anna's been very interested in the pilgrims and learning about the history of Thanksgiving. I love teaching her and Gaga loves it even more.
Maggie and I took Anna on her annual trip to see The Nutcracker. She loved it and LOVES ballet in general. Each year, the experience gets better because she gets into it more and more. I also took Anna to see Frozen - the new Disney Princess movie. It was a wonderful movie and has since become an obsession in our house. Every time we step into our car, the soundtrack goes on. Elsa and Anna took over our house and the Whelan Christmas!
Did I mention that she went to go see it three more times before Christmas? Yes, she did.
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This year, since we have the new house, we were finally able to host the Whelan Family Christmas. We had around 35 people - aunts, uncles, cousins, oh my! As usual, it was craziness. We did our traditional white elephant gift giving, but this year was especially fun because Anna was finally old enough to get in on the kids white elephant. She loved it and got a great sled out of it.
Declan loved every minute of it as well...he got a lot of attention and his very own VACUUM!!! Uncle Mike (Dex's godfather) got him a little red vacuum that looks exactly like the real thing and he walked around the house all night long vacuuming he house. If only it worked...he's like our own personal Roomba. I love that he likes to help me "clean" - I'm raising a good husband, right? :)
As far as Christmas goes, we also hosted, but this time, Katie, Steve and baby Claire joined us. It also was a great time. I did the cooking and the kiddos opened a lot of gifts. Gaga and Bapa got Anna her Frozen castle (she loved it). Dex got a bunch of trucks, cars, a tricycle and his first Power Wheels (bus). That boy loves anything on wheels and his wish was certainly granted this Christmas (and that was before Santa even showed up).
Katie dressed Claire up in an adorable little Santa outfit...we loved it! Claire was an absolute doll and such a good girl. We were all really happy that she was able to spend her first Christmas at our house with her entire family...especially her cousins!
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Christmas morning with THE BEST this year! Anna and Dex were both old enough to be excited about Santa and his deliveries. Anna woke up super early, saw the presents immediately and ran down stairs to count them. She woke Bill and I up and declared there were 13 presents for her. She was beyond excited. We immediately took the kids downstairs and the unwrapping began.
After that, we went on to church and back to Gaga and Bapa's house for another family dinner. Such a wonderful Christmas with great family memories. The pictures prove it all...
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