The Banister Family - Christmas Eve 2008
Well, I'm a bit late with this post but our Christmas and New Year's holiday were filled with family illness. We made it through, though, and here are some photos of the highlights. We hope you all had a peaceful, enjoyable Christmas and wish you many blessings for the new year.
Genevieve helping to make Jesus' birthday cake (Angel Food cake , of course!)
Olivia making Snowball cookies for Santa's treat!
Our Christmas Eve dinner. We followed my Grandma's tradition of placing special momentos of loved ones and special treasures around the table. We placed on the table a pair of my Grandpa Fred's glasses and harmonica, my Grandma Sylvia's scarf, a birthday card from my Grandmother Ferrell, my mother's rosary, a picture of my dad, dried flowers from our wedding, the girls' ID birth bracelets, etc. 
Genevieve sprinkling Reindeer Snacks (oatmeal with glitter) on the sidewalk.
Treats for Santa! Olivia made a thank you card for him and wrote "Hand made by Olivia and Eve" on the cover.
Olivia and Eve opened a couple of gifts on Christmas Eve before heading to bed.
We were getting Eve ready for bed, and I notice Olivia talking to herself over by the Christmas tree. She was pretending to be the Three Kings and was offering baby Jesus the Bakugan balls she just opened that evening. It was so sweet that I had to take a picture before she noticed me there.
The Banister gals on Christmas morning 2008.
The Ferrells invited us over for Christmas brunch. It was fun and relaxing and Aunt Megan's pancakes were delicious. Little did we know that we were leaving them a "gift" of Strep Throat!
The weekend following Christmas we got together with my older brother Geff, his girlfriend Tina, and my niece and nephew Lexie and Kurt.
The girls and I went for a one day, one night visit to my Dad and Glenna's house during Christmas break. With my dad still recovering from his infection and craniotomy, we didn't want to tax them too much.
The day we got back from my Dad's, my mother was admitted to the hospital for Strep, pneumonia, and blood clots in her lungs. She is home now and already back to work after spending a whole week in the hospital. We are so glad she is feeling better and pray that she continues to recover well.
We had a rough holiday, with both my parents recovering from serious illnesses as well as each of us getting a couple of colds and Strep over two weeks, but we managed to have some wonderful moments together, and enjoyed celebrating the gift of Jesus' birth.
