Christmas

Our first Christmas with Sophia was amazing. Throughout the whole adoption process and the painful wait it seemed like the day we would hold Sophia in our arms would never come. Sophia has been a gift since the moment we met her. To have her with us this Christmas made the day even more special.

Nick and Katie spent Christmas with us. It was so nice to have the whole family together. Christmas Eve was spent with Katie decorating a gingerbread house while Sophia decorated the cookies we left for Santa. We went to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve then got the kids to bed early. Santa visited in the middle of the night so when Sophia awoke at 5:00 AM her gifts were there waiting for her. We woke up Nick and Katie about 8:00. Nick got a Wii from Santa and Katie got a bow and arrow. We then openned up the gifts we bought each other. It was such a nice morning with everyone sitting on the floor marveling at the gifts.

After Sophia's morning nap we all headed to Grandma Bev and Grandpa Skip's house. We had a lovely day with them and Grandma Beadle. We openned more gifts and then had a wonderful dinner. It felt so good to be all together for Christmas. This is a day I will always cherish.

Nick stayed down for a few days but then had to head back to NJ and back to work. Katie was with us the entire week. We traveled to Connecticut on Thursday. Anne's brother, George, and his family met us at Anne's mom's house. It was nice to have Anne's siblings, George and Linda, and their families home with Grandma Barb. The kids (now six of them) all enjoyed playing together. We went out to a restaurant for a wonderful steak dinner before returning to Grandma Barb's to open yet more gifts.

Grandma Barb enjoyed spending some time with Katie and Sophia. It is always nice to go "home" to be with our family. Being with family is the best gift anyone could ever give.