merry! merry!

I think I love Christmas more than any other day of the year! This year was very different with my sister away in Turkey. There were lots of things that made me miss her because we have so many fun Christmas Day traditions that just aren't the same without her. Usually she wakes me up and we go downstairs to see what goodies Santa has left. This year I woke up on my own, but when I got downstairs I found that my mom had been up for awhile, making the house very warm and cozy. She had made our family's traditional Christmas breakfast (caramel rolls and coffee - so good!!) and built a fire. And, even with Megan so far away, Santa still came and left us wonderful gifts :)

After spending the morning opening presents with Mom and Dad, we braved the snowy roads and drove to Becky and Dan's house for dinner. Their house was beautifully decorated and it was so fun to spend the day there with my Mom, Dad, Gram, Papa, Becky, Dan, Ian and Alec. Clara was even invited to come to play with Amber. We had delicious food, more cookies and of course poppers with funny jokes, toys and paper crowns!!

I am so thankful that I have such a great family to spend the holidays with. And even though the traditions were a bit different this year and there were a few people missing this year, it is nice to know that we all were thinking about each other and love each other very much!!

a VERY white ChristmasGram and Papa

the Donegans (-1)

the Bishops

a toast to Terry...

best friends, Amber and Clara...