Christmas Part 1: Lots of Holiday Hosting!

We hosted the Carroll side of the family at our house for Christmas this weekend. This year, after much plotting and conferring with my dad, I decided to attempt my first prime rib. It was a decision that thrilled everyone in the house, especially carnivore/ prime rib expert Maddy!

And I had so many helpers!





Audrey tried a new incentive to sell Girl Scout Cookies, a free giraffe selfie with every purchase.



The prime rib turned out pretty well, just "slight less juicy than Grandfather's" said one expert, who shall remain nameless (Maddy Carroll).



After dinner it was time for presents! With Thomas still so little, Maddy and Audrey still got to open the lion share of the gifts!





Nicole, gift-wrapper-extrodinaire really outdid herself on this one. Spoiler alert: it's a hula hoop!



And my Harry Potter fanatic was thrilled with this gift! (Also, thanks to Nicole!)





One final giraffe selfie, just because.



And on Sunday, since we had tons of prime rib left and the house was clean anyway we hosted our annual cookie exchange for the Michigan crew.



The kids looks so huge now!