Ainsley's Christmas

John, Colleen, Carolyn, (Colleen's mom), and Ainsley arrived Christmas evening. After watching other grandchildren wait for endless minutes to get their toys out of the packaging, I had Ainsley's gifts assembled and out of the packaging, ready to be played with! She walked in and began talking to her twin baby dolls in their new high chair and cradle. Here she is feeding the baby "yogurt."

Ainsley loves to laugh and once she starts, it doesn't take much to keep her going. Here, she is playing a little game with her mom, which had her pretty tickled.

This was another fun gift from Macy and Marshall...

And even more fun was putting the blue bow on her head and laughing!

Here she is with the baby Jesus from one of my nativity scenes. She liked the story and really wanted to play with all the figures, but after I told her it was "Mimi's toy," she left it all alone. Next year, we will get her the Fisher-Price Nativity Set for children.

We had fun at the park in our neighborhood, and she even inspired me to go down the double slide with her! Look at her face in this photo. She gets really excited on a playground.

Looking at Mommy through a hole.

Going up the stairs to the slide...

Everytime she came down the slide, she stand up, and say, "Again," and she'd go again and again!

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures of her, wearing her Minnie Mouse scarf, hat and mittens from her great aunt Sandy in California.

When we took her outside, she really didn't want to smile. It was pretty cold, and she didn't have on a coat or shoes...but I thought the lighting would be better.

This is why God made grandmothers. At dinner, she was not happy and didn't want to eat much of anything. Her mom and dad had reached their limits and Mimi was saying something like, "I should have fixed her some macaroni and cheese..." She knew I was sympathetic to her cause and in the middle of a huge temper tantrum, through tears, she looked across the table at me, and said, "I want my Mimi!" Well, that was it. I broke all the rules, and went around to her and took her out of her chair and sat her on my lap. She calmed down and ate a few bits of chicken, had a roll, and some water and milk. I didn't win a popularity contest with Mom and Dad, but it was one of my favorite Christmas memories this year! Ainsley, I promise, next year, I will fix a big bowl of macaroni and cheese for you, so neither you nor I will get into trouble!

Fun under the tree with Daddy.

While her mom and dad were loading up the car on Sunday morning, Papa and I took her down to the pond to feed crackers to the fish. I love this picture of her. The lighting was just right, and you can almost see the gold halo over her head!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was very good to all of us, but the best gifts of all were the grandchildren, who made this a blessing of a holiday!