And...it was Merry!

Santa came! Albeit after 1:00 a.m. sometime (I'm guessing here) because someone would NOT go to sleep!!!

Zoey woke up at 5:00 a.m. and I told her that I needed to sleep in some more...she waited in the living room with Leo, doing some investigating I am sure.

When Ethan and I finally woke up and were "up for the long haul" Zoey started in on opening her stocking right away. We gave Leo his present right away too so that he would be out of the way of all the wrapping paper and bows...he likes to get involved when there is unwrapping to be done.

Lucky dog...a gluten free, organic, healthy bacon bone! It must have been healthy too because he didn't throw up this Christmas!! A first for a couple years now!

Zoey got a special gift from the fairies again this year...

And something that she has been wanting for awhile now...the full complete season of Boy Meets World! She has been enjoying watching the new T.V. show Girl Meets World and we discovered that it's a continuation of the program Boy Meets World which originally aired when my youngest sister was Z's age. We've been enjoying watching the shows by requesting past seasons from the library...well, I've been re-requesting them so many times that I don't think any other patrons have been getting to watch them so I knew it would make a good gift for Zoey. She was thrilled!

A gift that she asked Santa for was a retired American Girl doll named Nellie. Santa didn't disappoint! She's a pretty cute doll and has a somewhat mischievous and playful nature about her.

A gift from me to Zoey this year was some kinetic sand...so awesome! I played with some at the toy store that's local and knew I had to get some. Ethan, Zoey and I all are enjoying playing with it. It's like a solid but not...it's amazing and so relaxing to play with and it doesn't stick to your hands which is amazing as well...there is no mess! We just have to be careful to keep it away from Leo because he tries to eat it. :) Of course!

Here is a picture of Leo post Christmas bone. Can you tell he is a full puppy?

And this was Leo's gift to Zoey this year...

Santa brought a really cool building set that also includes the ability to wire as well as build, design and more! It's soooo cool! In my opinion it offers more in the way of creativity than Lego's do. It's truly unique and I can tell she's going to create and re-create with it already. With Lego's she would create whatever the "recipe" was for the set and that was it. Love there is no "recipe" for this and that the combinations of what you can create are endless truly!

Here is Zoey's first creation...without the wiring.

And a break from gift photos for a shot of sleepy puppy...once again. Perhaps his 22nd Christmas nap?

A gift to Zoey from both Ethan and I was a Fujifilm Instax camera...it's pink! Zoey loves it and I am quickly realizing that we will probably be running out of film pretty quickly! She has been snapping pictures non-stop!

She loves to take pictures and this means that I don't have to hook up her camera to my laptop and print pictures for her now...she can do it all herself because it's instantaneous!

The mini prints are so cute too!

Zoey got a fuzzy new larger sleeping bag (she's growing out of her old one) along with a matching pillow. I'm not going to lie, I've been using this already too! It's soooooooo soft!

Here is another picture of Zoey and Nellie...two cuties!

We think that Santa's elves made this doll stand for Zoey's dolls...she's so excited to make it a bakery, a vet or a store for the dolls! Since it's generic there is so much possibility! There is even a hanging chalkboard sign so she can write or draw on it. So fun!

My favorite part of the day may have been the fire we enjoyed the evening of Christmas day. It was mild out and the perfect evening for a fire. We may have enjoyed a snowball fight too...

It was a happy Christmas...we were relaxed, healthy, and together which hasn't been the case for a long while with our crazy schedules and responsibilities to work and school. It was nice to be in a place where there was no expectation other than that of taking time to enjoy one another.

Feeling especially thankful.