But before they arrived, a few festivities already took place, including the children's annual school Christmas pageant. (How I will miss these after we move home!) Both Tim and Maddie played the part of angels this year (how fitting!!!!).
Christmas Eve was delightful. After a lovely meal, we cuddled on the couch and sang Christmas carols (it was so nice to have Mom here to play the piano!), nibbled on some cookies, drank some egg nog, read "The Night Before Christmas," and opened one gift each!
Christmas morning was a lot of fun!! 
Collin's favorite gift seemed to be his tricycle which he enjoyed riding around the house.
Tim was excited about his new sledge, 
and Maddie rocked out on her Paper Jams guitar. 
Ahhhh.... the glorious mess!
Christmas dinner was of course accompanied by Christmas crackers, complete with jokes and crowns! I think that this will remain a tradition for us for years to come.
We ventured out on the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) to Fountains Abbey.
(Oh yes... did I mention that we had a white Christmas??!!) We enjoyed taking some lovely photographs,
and taking part in a service that they hold there every year on Boxing Day. 
I think it's noteworthy to mention that this service is a culmination of a walk/pilgrimage that hundreds of people participate in each year. They begin at Ripon Cathedral, and walk 4 miles to get to Fountains Abbey to commemorate a similar journey that took place back in 1132 by a group of local monks! We did not participate in the walk, but we certainly appreciated the free admission!
Tim was thrilled that we had plenty of snow during his school holiday. That meant plenty of chances to test out his new sled! And we even had the right kind of snow to make a snowman for the front yard! (We didn't have any carrots, so it had to have a celery nose.)
We all enjoyed a day trip to the village of Skipton, where we toured Skipton Castle. We really appreciated how well restored the castle was (it was nice to tour a castle with a roof during the middle of winter!). Here's a brief tour:
The gatehouse
The Courtyard
The Banquet Hall
A Medieval potty (always fascinating!)
Stairs down to the dungeon
A nice shot of Maddie and Grandma
Ethan also took his mom and brother to take some unique and foggy shots of Bolton Abbey.
It was a very special Christmas season indeed.
