Maggie's Memos: Our Christmas

Ha, you thought we forgot to do our big Christmas post, didn't you?  We didn't forget...we just aren't organized enough to get it done before New Year's Day...or the day after. ;)

Christmas.Was.Epic.  Seriously, it was the most incredible Christmas ever, in spite of the fact that Mama documented the whole thing with WAAAYY too many pictures. ;)

Oh, and while we're on the subject of pictures, I apologize in advance for the random blend of lighting and such in the pictures in this post.  Mama had just gotten her new Samsung Galaxy S5 phone and wanted to try out the camera it had, but she ALSO took pictures with her regular camera, just in case.  We've chosen a combination of pictures from both cameras for this post. :}

As Tess mentioned in a couple of our earlier posts, Mama took all twelve of us with her to Mimi's to enjoy Christmas together.  It was a crazy ride over with all of us stuffed in the front seat of the truck.  I'm pretty sure I had Rachel's hand stuck in my armpit most of the way. :{

When we first got to Mimi's, there weren't too many humans there, and the ones who were there knew about us (that we can move and talk on our own).  So thankfully, we had a bit of freedom to relax and move around.

One of the first things we saw was our very own welcoming party that was waiting for us.

Tess, Hailey, and Ella's cousins Katie and Lucy were there.  They haven't been around for a long time, even though they've still been local.  Tess was almost in tears at the sight of them. 

Piper and Ruthie were there, waiting to give Alice big hugs...

...and their cousin (and Coral's sister) Saige was waiting right next to them.

I almost fell over when I saw my sisters, Maddy and Mary, waiting to greet me.  Although we'd kept in touch, I hadn't seen them in a year or so.  I hadn't realized how much I'd missed them.

 

So of course, the next few minutes were spent hugging and laughing and getting reacquainted. 

Coral and Saige sharing secrets.

Hailey and Ella talking with Lucy.

Katie and Tess hugging. 

The Hathaway/Ellison bunch chatting together.

Hugging my sisters.

Rachel and Jenna don't have any extended family (at least, not yet), but they looked on from the sidelines, happy for everyone who'd been reunited with someone special.

After we'd had the chance to visit for a while, someone mentioned the yearly tradition of climbing all over the presents.  That sounded pretty cool to me!  We all took off exploring the human loot and seeing who could get the highest.  I'm pretty sure it was me. ;) 

 

So after we'd gotten tired of climbing all over the presents, we decided to split up and explore different parts of the house before too many of Mama's human family got there and we'd be stuck in one area.  I'd heard a LOT about the famous snack table from Emma and others who had been at Mimi's house before, so I asked Charlie to show me where it was.  Rachel joined us, too.

Once we were there, I followed my nose until I found Aunt V's homemade gingerbread.  Yumm!

Charlie helped herself to some of Aunt V's fudge...

...while Rachel decided to start with a helping of pistachios (already unshelled...nice!). 

Alice got a bit distracted by Mimi's shelf of Doctor Who DVDs.  Guess what she spent most of her time watching while we were there? ;)

Coral and Saige sat by the tree and enjoyed the pretty lights.

Tess and Katie found a comfortable spot and took some time to talk.  I'm glad Tess had the chance to catch up a bit.  I know she's been missing her cousin.  They might as well be sisters, they're so close. 

Hailey and Ella decided to play blocks with Lucy.   

Ella also found Mimi's Little People Santa and Mrs. Santa set.

Lucy was very intent on making a big tower of blocks.

I think Hailey had more fun watching her cousin and talking with her than "playing".  It's fun for her to get to step into "big sister" mode a little more than she's used to.

Emma and Ruthie escaped to Mimi's backyard and took a long walk, talking about who knows what. ;)

Hayden and Jenna wandered off and explored some of Mimi's Christmas decorations.  They're all over the house.  Finding every single one was like going on a scavenger hunt.  Even the bathrooms were festive!

Piper, Mary, and Maddy decided to read some Christmas books together. 

Sadly, this blissful freedom did not last for long.  Mama had the bright idea that we should all get family photos taken since we were all together and dressed up.  Whoopee.

Here I am with my sisters.  Okay, I have to admit, it is kinda nice to have pictures with my sisters.  Even if I did have to sit and pose for a gazillion photos. :} 

Jenna and Rachel

And another shot with the traditional camera. 

Ella, Tess, and Hailey 

And again.  Tess couldn't decide which of these she liked better, so she asked if we could include them both.

And then their close-up.

Mama also decided to take cousin pictures.  [On a side note, Hailey thought it was pretty cool that Katie now has glasses, too.] ;) 

Lucy and Katie's sister picture.

And their close-up.  (I'm not sure why my sisters and I didn't get a close-up, too.  I think it was because we were the first ones Mama took pictures of, and she didn't think of it then.  Oh well, one less picture is totally fine with me!)

Here's the huge Hathaway/Ellison/Copeland group shot.  Back row from left to right: Saige Copeland, Piper Ellison, Hayden Hathaway, Emma Hathaway, Coral Copeland.  Front row from left to right: Ruthie Ellison, Charlie Hathaway, Alice Ellison.

And again, because Emma couldn't decide which group shot she liked best.  It's a good thing I'm so nice about letting dolls use extra pics in MY post. ;) 

Here's Saige and Coral's sister picture.

And their close-up.  Check out Coral's eyes!  Aren't they the most amazing color?  I wish I didn't just have boring brown eyes. 

Okay, and this one Mama wanted me to keep in because she couldn't pick her favorite.  Seriously?  Could I please finish this post without any more special requests? 

Here are Alice, Ruthie, and Piper in their sister picture.

And their close-up shot.  

I guess I should be coming up with more unique labels for each of these pictures, but they're all pretty much the same thing over and over, and I'm not as flowery or creative as Tess and Emma would be.  Plus I don't really care all that much. >:}   

Here are Charlie, Hayden, and Emma.

And, shocker, the three of them even closer.

And just when I thought I was safe, Mama decided she should get a few pictures of Tess and I together since we were the official blog authors.  I guess that makes sense.  And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.  

And here we are again...

...AND AGAIN!! 

At last, the never-ending photo shoot did actually come to an end.  We had dinner and then were shooed off to bed.  Mama had to get our presents ready.

We actually all slept in the guest bed.  It was a little crowded, but thankfully no one snored or rolled around too much.

The very next morning was Christmas morning!  We all hurried out to the living room in our pajamas to open our gifts from Mama.

Each of us got a small gift and a candy in our stocking.  The dolls from other houses got the same, but they didn't have their stockings with them.

Here are a few pictures Mama got of us opening our gifts:

We had a wonderful Christmas together.  We did a lot more, too, like playing games, watching movies, taking walks, listening to Christmas music, and eating lots of yummy snacks, but we didn't capture all of it on film. ;)

We hope that all of you had an incredible Christmas season with your loved ones.

So, although it's a little bit late...

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

from all of us at Jane Austen and Unicorns. ;)

We'll be back with one last post for all of you within the next few days!  Until then, this is Maggie Wilson, signing off.