The Passineau Family: Pittsburgh Edition: Christmas 2014

I hope those reading had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas 2014 will go down in my memory as our best yet. The girls were especially excited for Santa to come this year & really got into all the excitement leading up to the big day. Michael's folks came from Michigan to spend Christmas Eve & Day with us. The girls were even more worked up when Grandma & Papa arrived. Unfortunately, our Jessie girl did have a sickness for part of the holiday & was feverish & lethargic leading up to Christmas. She was so ill on Christmas Eve that we didn't know if we'd be able to make it to our church service, but seeing as how there was no kids church that evening & her fever had thankfully broken by then we felt ok taking her & allowing her to sit with us. She was all smiles & both girls really enjoyed the Christmas carols we sang at church & also the candle light that accompanied our singing of "Silent Night." Christmas Eve was special for many reasons this year, but I will always remember them ever so carefully placing the cookies for Santa & the carrots for the reindeer by the fire place. Papa read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to the girls & then in their beds, Daddy read them the Christmas story from his Bible. That evening the girls were of course excited, but they were also tired by the time we got them to bed & were thankfully asleep about 10 min. after we put them down. It was time to play Santa's little elves after we were sure they were asleep. This is the part of the story when I say I had "officially" completed all of their Christmas shopping prior to Thanksgiving; however, some events/sales happened that cause me to add to their lists. About 10 days prior to Christmas, Ella was out riding her little training bike, when she fell over & the bike itself broke. She was broken hearted & I knew she loved her bike :( We had seen the little 14 inch Frozen bike at Target just days before & she said she wanted Santa to bring that to her. At the time I told her she already had a bike & that Santa would bring her some surprises, but when her little bike broke, I knew I had my heart set on getting that Frozen bike for her. So here I am thinking I'm completely done with shopping, 10 days before searching for a little girl's Frozen bike, which was a hot toy for 2014. Needless to say after 5 different Targets I got the last one in stock in Pittsburgh & gave the sale associate a hug when she brought out the last one to me. I almost cried tears of joy....I realize that's silly, but I just knew how happy she would be to see that on Christmas morning. So on Christmas Eve Michael had to put together Ella's Frozen bike & I was in charge of setting up their Barbie princess castle & carriage. The princess castle was an impulsive buy from a consignment shop & only cost $13 so I figured we'd get if for them this year as a starter doll house. Well, they have played with their princess castle almost non-stop since getting it on Christmas morning. I had seen the big 7 pack of princess dolls at Target for the last few months, but couldn't stomach the big price tag. I saw it go 50% off on Dec. 20th & used a Cartwheel coupon to get an additional % off, so I knew they would love having all of the princesses for their castle....thankfully, Michael didn't mind if I really went a little crazy with the princess stuff this year :) For memories sake, here's what Santa brought:

For Jessie:
Queen Unicorn from Barbie & the Secret Door
Merida's Bow & Arrow
Flutterbye fairy
Little Live pets butterfly
Maleficent Doll
Big stuffed Sven
Elsa crown & coloring book

For Ella:
Alexa doll from Barbie & the Secret Door
Frozen Bike
Little Live pets butterfly
Elsa crown & coloring book
Nightmare Moon...My little pony
Princess Carriage/horse
Frozen boombox

For both:
Princess castle
7 pack princess dolls
Frozen Magic Clip Dolls

I should also mention that my parents, Nuna & Pawpaw, Michael's parents, Grandma & Papa, & their Aunt Wendy, Uncle Brett, & cousins Hannah & Brendan also spoiled the girls with a load of new things. Clothing, toys, etc. Thanks to them for making it such a magical Christmas. As for Michael, I knew I really wanted to get him the gear he needed to fly fish. So he got a fly fishing rod, vest, & flies for steelhead. He can fish for these near our lake property. I am hopeful that he will really enjoy doing this. As for me, I've been so spoiled this year with different things for the house & my biggest gift was my new camera. I upgraded from my Rebel to a Canon 7d back before Thanksgiving & really feel that I am happy with that upgrade. I had previously told Michael that I didn't need any gifts, but he didn't listen to that so I received a beautiful new set of knives for the kitchen & from the girls I got a gorgeous nativity snow globe which is engraved with the inscription: Love, Jessica & Gabriella 2014 (a very touching keepsake) & a beautiful set of earrings. We are so grateful for the provision that God has given to our family this year. The joy of giving our kids a wonderful Christmas is a blessing indeed. More importantly we are so grateful for our health & the legacy of faith that we enjoy! May we always remember our best gift came in the form of a baby laid in a manager so many years ago. Merry Christmas & God Bless!

Christmas Eve