Grammy/Harold Christmas

The week before Christmas, George's mom and Harold came and stayed with us for a few days.  It was such a treat and we soaked up every minute with them that we could!  As a special surprise, Pam gave George a scrapbook that she had been working on for the past several months.  It contained all the pictures, newspaper clips, letters, and mementos that she had collected during his high school glory days.  It was awesome!!  I was so impressed at all the things that Pam had saved from back then and that she had taken the time to arrange it all in such a special, meaningful way.  It was neat to watch them reliving moments while going through the book together and to see how proud Pam is of all George's accomplishments.  I know this is going to be something that George and I treasure and I hope that someday I am able to do something just as special for our kiddos.

Then the next morning, we woke up and had Christmas morning with Gammy and Harold.  Bailey surprised and cracked us all up with how much he enjoyed opening presents.  He was the first one to spot them all on the table in the morning and just stood there saying "wow, whoa, whoa!"  Then when we started opening things, his reactions were priceless!  He got so over-the-top excited about everything, including socks!  It was hilarious and even prompted me to buy him a few extra little things to open Christmas morning.  I wasn't planning on him enjoying the process so much but I loved watching him delight in every moment.  His favorite was this little car that plays music and makes noise.

Ainsley was also excited about the gifts but in a more subdued, I've-been-through-all-this-before sort of way.  She loved her baby doll and dolls that you can change their clothes.  This girl is SO into fashion, which makes me a little nervous, esp. since this mom is not very stylish.

And sadly, like always, there were so many sweet moments and activities during this visit that I just failed to get on camera.  One of the sweetest was Pam making a doll house for Ainsley's new doll out of a cardboard box and a bunch of random craft supplies.  Ainsley was enamored with the whole process of construction and Pam was awesome at adding in all of Ainsley's requests.... like, wanting the dollhouse to have a door that was big enough for her and one for her doll, and making an attic for all the clothes to go in, and wanting stairs instead of a ladder for the upstairs bedroom.  Pam is a wizard and so creative and although she didn't get quite finished, Ainsley is still playing with her sweet cardboard doll house, several weeks later!