We were able to decorate our tree a couple of weeks before Christmas. The girls had a lot of fun putting their ornaments on the tree. It turned out pretty dang cute if you ask me.
On Christmas Eve we started our celebrations with Clint and Nicole's family to celebrate Merry's birthday. Avery and Emmabelle had a good time at the party. Once Dave got off work we headed to Mesa. That evening we went to John's house for a Christmas Eve dinner/program. Tom and Sarah did a couple of musical numbers that were just beautiful. With Tom on the piano and Sarah playing the violin. They both did an awesome job.
As Grandpa Hartman read out of Luke 2 the kids acted out the nativity. Avery was so excited to be Mary. I think it was mostly due to getting to hold the baby. McKay being the only boy played Joseph. Annie and Sadie were shepherds, and Emmabelle was the cutest little angel (I am biased though).
After the nativity the kids sang two songs. Christmas Bells are Ringing, and The Shepherds Carol. They did a pretty good job.
Grandpa Great Hartman and Uncle Kern also made it to the festivities. So of course we had to get pictures of them with him.
Before we went to bed the girls sprinkled Magic Reindeer food out so that Santa would be able to find us at Uncle John's house. Christmas morning the girls were so excited to see what was in their stockings. Avery took each piece of candy out one by one. It was super cute. Emmabelle went straight for the chocolate.
Christmas present opening ceremonies took place at James and Sylvia's house. All the kids were so excited and there were a ton of presents. 
Emmabelle did a good job opening her presents for the first five or so and then she just wanted to play. She didn't open anymore I ended up finishing for her. Avery on the other hand was super excited about opening the presents and didn't want to stop. She just opened one right after the other. She was very excited about the trike she got from Santa and the tea set she asked for. Emmabelle got a radio flyer scooter from Santa. I think her favorite present was the ball that Grandma Hartman got her. She does like her scooter now that she knows what it is.
Later that day we went over to Dan and Sarah's for Christmas lunch. We first went to the park to take a family picture since everyone was there. That was an experience in itself. Some of the adults were just as bad as the kids. It took patience and quite a few shots, but hopefully we got a good one out of it. The food was good as always. There was one tragedy and that was when Emmabelle fell and hit her mouth on the corner of the kids table. Blood everywhere and the poor thing ended up with a fat lip. She has recovered nicely. We got back to Safford around 9:30 that night. It was a great Christmas.
Today being the last Sunday of the year Avery graduated from nursery. She attended closing excercises as a Sunbeam and was so excited to be there. We are having her first primary activity on Saturday, a get to know your teacher breakfast. It should be lots of fun. The Bishopric is cooking for us.
