Katy's First Christmas

This year our holiday was much different than any one before. Suddenly things had a different meaning, and nothing felt as important as spending time together as a family.

These stockings were made for my parents when I was born, and my mom just passed them on to me. I loved having these hanging in our house!

Katy met Santa the Saturday before Christmas. He made an appearance at a neighborhood restaurant called Frankford Hall, so we stopped by to say hello and to have a burger (side note: Katy did not eat a burger).

He was so sweet with her! And even though she never really smiled while he was holding her, she didn't cry either. And that felt like a success! I love how intently she was looking at him.

We spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parents' house and visited with lots of friends and family over the two days.

Please pardon the blurriness in the picture above...it's just too cute to not include!

Christmas morning was quite nice, and we all enjoyed watching Katy open up a few gifts. Then the Hollanders came over for our traditional breakfast. Sadly, we forgot to take our annual group photo!

Jack the pup Christmas morning

Christmas dinner at Great Grandma's house

We got lots of time with our New Jersey family, but we were definitely missing our Kansas family! If only New Jersey and Kansas were just a little bit closer...