Three American Girl Doll beds greeted my girls under the Christmas tree this year. Santa's freelance elf made them all by herself.

See? Here's proof by way of a few process shots.

I wouldn't know, of course, but rumor has it they were made from these plans from Ana White, and that they were pretty simple to build. They had to be for Santa's elf to manage them by herself. Painting them was no doubt the hardest part.

These beds gave us a lot of bang for our buck—in otherwords, we didn't have to break the piggy bank to give them something that felt substantial. Which was good, because...

...we sort of spent our Christmas wad on a little friend that joined in the festivities Christmas morning.

This is Benton, our new Golden Retriever puppy. The girls were pretty disappointed when Dexter the free dog had to go back home because he wasn't very nice to an important person in our lives. This is how we made it up to them. Not exactly free, but, well, we have always LOVED this breed and decided to splurge on what we really wanted.

More about Benton later.

Christmas at home in our pajamas is always a treat.

Grandma bought new boots for the girls and they were a huge hit.

Later Christmas day we migrated to my parents house where we joined up with more family and enjoyed a yummy prime rib dinner and a leisurely afternoon of game playing. We especially enjoyed the company of my little nephew elf.

We are truly blessed to enjoy a perfect Christmas. After Tom puts in a couple of good days work on my parents apartment project we are hoping to spend a few days with his family. If all goes well. At this point we are nursing a sick little Eva back to health and crossing our fingers that it doesn't spread. And adjusting to life with a puppy. (What did I get myself into?)

Lots more to share- back soon!