a drake holiday

Finally we've resurfaced after a crazy but lovely holiday! Blair had off of work for a few days around Christmas so we went down to the Philly area to visit with family from the 23rd-28th. This was a great time, we saw almost everybody and celebrated fully, though Blair was unfortunately plagued with a horrible cold and we left on the heels of Ava's double ear infection. Blair had to miss out on a few of the festivities and rested a lot, but it was still a joyful thing to watch Ava explode with excitement for Christmas and especially presents.

I slept in the basement of the Drake's house with Ava and she woke up early on Christmas morning. She was happy and ready to be up so I brought her into bed with me and we snuggled and talked for a few minutes while I woke up a little. I then turned to her and said in an excited whisper, "Ava, do you remember what today is? It's Christmas!" She looked at me and her eyes got wide as she whispered back, "...Presents!!!" With what ensued that day, you'd think someone taught her how to "do" Christmas. She shook with anticipation as she opened each gift and squealed the name of the gift, "Puzzle!!!" at the sight of it. What a delight to watch her and feed off her childish wonderment.

With one parent sick and the other on Ava duty, we took a total of about ten pictures during the whole trip. But, here is one to mark that Christmas did in fact exist:

Here also are some pictures of Ava using her gifts in the days to follow:

Resting on her new armchair with her beloved baby

Baking cookies in her new oven this morning!

Having a tea party with Daddy at her new table

All in all, through illness and busyness, we had a truly wonderful Christmas. We are so aware of how blessed we are (though I know we still take it all for granted) to have such generous and caring family, and a daughter that is as sweet as they come. We have so much joy and so much to be thankful for this year, namely our God and the gift of his son Jesus. We praise him for the wonderful things he has done and all that is before us in the new year!