Then for Christmas Eve we had Mummum and Tammy over, and enjoyed a simple meal and some time with them.  Mummum gave Violet her first baby doll (Violet makes delighted sounds upon seeing her, and then bites her in the head) and Isobel got to warm up for Christmas morning with a huge bag of goodies.  Then, when Bella went upstairs to get ready for bed, there were matching Christmas PJs for her and Violet laid out on her bed!  We think Santa must have been giving them a hint.  Isobel looks like a beanpole in hers, Violet like a sausage.

Christmas morning everyone but Mummy slept in (hey, I love Christmas!) and after great stockings and a light breakfast we hit the pile of presents.  Iain received a huge stack of books and a hand painted mug (from Isobel- it had a picture of her giving the mug in its handmade bag to him on the mug), I received some lovely presents including earrings, new sheets and pottery lessons (aka: time away from my family!), Violet got a mountain of brightly coloured toys, and Isobel was hopelessly spoiled with fairy dolls, games, puzzles, clothes, books and an iPod shuffle.  Here they are with their favourite gifts:

Then it was off to our friends Daniel and Sandy's for a huge Christmas dinner with friends and family at their new home.  We had a wonderful time, and a nice visit with them after staying overnight.   Isobel just adores their 15 month old son "Roney Baloney" (Ronin), and spent the whole time trying to entertain him, which took some of the pressure off Violet!  And now we are home, settling in to getting some stuff done around the house, reading/playing with the new toys, and hopefully seeing some more friends.