After-Christmas Glow

The Christmas celebration continued even after the holiday itself! We enjoyed a visit from Nan and Grampa. The girls took Nan to Biddy's Tea House while Bennett cuddled with Grampa and read his new books.

We took our first trip to Chuck E Cheese to meet up with some of our friends. I'm not sure how we got Bennett to leave!

And no holiday season would be complete without a trip to the Wildlights at the Zoo!

A Merry Crane Christmas!

Christmas has finally arrived! We are so excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

After church we invited family back to our house for Christmas Eve festivities. This year's theme was fondue!

Papa read the Night Before Christmas to everyone.

After setting out cookies for Santa and reindeer food, we lit the Advent wreath to remind ourselves of what Christmas is truly about.

We counted our blessings on Christmas morning when we saw how good Santa was to us! It was great fun watching the kids open their presents. 

Later in the day we headed over to Mimi and Papa's. The girls were very excited to get their very own American Girl dolls! I was excited to see all of the handmade clothes that Mimi made for them.

And what Christmas wouldn't be complete without.... RUTABAGAS???

Christmas in Toledo

Every year, part of our Christmas tradition is going up to Toledo to celebrate with my side of the family. Ava. Lily, and Bennett are three of twelve grandkids so it always proves to be entertaining.
We first went to church where we got to participate in the lighting of the Advent wreath.

Then it was back to Nan and Grampa's for dinner and gifts. Since Jordan has a knack for percussion (and we are avid SNL fans), many of his gifts had a cowbell theme. Many envied Aaron's gift, a ring toss reindeer antler game.

And, as always, we decorated Christmas cookies with Nan!

After all that fun, everybody was worn out!