Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had our celebration with Sam's side of the family. We had a wonderful Christmas lunch - ham, potatoes, rolls, and such - and opened presents early. The kids could hardly wait to start tearing into them. They know they get to open presents on Christmas Eve, and they are always so excited to start a day early! They got movies, games, clothes, and lots of toys. We spent the rest of the day visiting and playing with the exciting new stuff!

It didn't take Paige long to see how things worked. She had a good time tearing open her presents and pulling on the toys to get them out of the packing for play time!

She was so tired! She didn't get her morning nap, but she was happy and cute as ever! Thank goodness for this good little baby.

Playing some Jenga. This is a perfect game for Jaxson. He gets to build, and crash things down!

Sydnee showing her battle wound... she got an ant bite when she went out to play!

Sam's dad had to head into work in the late afternoon, and the festivities were coming to an end. After visiting with his grandpa and Aunt for a bit, we headed home to squeeze in a few Christmas Eve traditions before the kids needed to head to bed. This is the first Christmas in the 10 years Sam and I have been married that we were at our own house. We knew it would have to be that way this year - no more toting gifts for 4 kids here and there - but since we are now in Texas, we didn't have to miss the holiday with our families. My parents and Nicole came up later Christmas Eve night to spend the night and be here for Christmas. It was nice to have them come, and we're glad they stayed!

I love having some holiday traditions. We have a few that have worked well for us. We open 1 present on Christmas Eve from under the tree. (of course I have to do some persuading on this one so they are sure to get their Christmas pajamas! )

And we have a cookie decorating contest. I guess Jaxson was tired of not winning, because this year he said he would be the judge.

And we read and "do" the nativity story. We don't dress up and act it out like so many families do, but my mom has a soft kids' nativity set and the kids move the pieces as the story is read. Dad usually reads it, but this year Sam took over the job. Shaye has done most of it in the past, with some assistance from Jaxson, but Sydnee joined in this year and we had shepherds coming during the wise men's turn and other performance liberties! Either way, its always a nice reminder why we truly celebrate!