Merry Christmas!

Christmas seemed to take F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to arrive, at least that's what the kids thought. But arrive it did! Unfortunately, a virus decided to come along with it. Poor Rose. She was quite under the weather on Christmas Eve, which definitely put a damper on our celebration. 

We spent Christmas Eve at Nana Judy and Popi Dave's house. 

We started the festivities with a rousing game of "find the pickle on the tree". The kids went first followed by a second pickle hunt for the adults. 

Owen choose to go with the adult group and didn't have much competition.

Afterwards, it was time for the much anticipated present opening. The kids had fun ripping open gift after gift thanks to a very generous Nana Judy and Popi Dave. 

Owen didn't offer up many gift ideas this year. His preference was cash. So Nana Judy got creative and hid his gift inside a puzzle cube. He had to solve the puzzle in order to unlock the cube to collect the money stashed inside.

After exploring the fun new gifts, we enjoyed an exciting dice game trying to win a wrapped gift of candy (and possibly hidden cash). Then we were treated to an amazing Italian dinner of mostaccioli along with a table full of delicious sides and yummy desserts. What a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration! Before we knew it, it was time to load up the car to get our crew home and to bed. Santa's helper had quite a bit of work in store for the evening ahead.

After an exciting Christmas Eve celebration, the kids had trouble settling down for bed. After all, they knew that Santa was likely on his way so who could possibly sleep?!?  Not wanting to scare off the Big Guy in Red if he so happened to be in our house, they stayed securely in their rooms behind closed doors which gave Santa's helper a chance to get to work setting everything up for what was bound to be an early morning wakeup call.

Morning arrived and Mom may still have been fast asleep when a couple little girls made their way downstairs. They were in a bit of disbelief at what a messy eater Santa was. He clearly enjoyed the cookies and milk they had left out for him! Then it was back upstairs to wake up Mom and get the show on the road.

Baby Jesus had once again blessed the kids with some fun gifts. He used to leave the gifts at the foot of their beds, but with so many little ears that may be woken up with the slightest creak in the floor boards, he now leaves them just outside their bedroom doors.

After a brief time checking out their new gifts, they were ready to see what Santa had left for them in their stockings…

I always try to space out the gift opening, but the kids sure don't like to wait! They were all too excited to wait and just had to see what was hiding inside the boxes that Santa had left behind. Rose went first and made a few comments on why Santa would have wrapped their gifts in a box from a store like Kohls or Walmart. 

Mom: Hmmm. Good observation, Rose. Maybe he ordered it from Kohls? 

Rose: But Mom, Santa makes his toys at the North Pole!!

It may not be much longer for her to uncover the truth.

After exploring their new gifts (Aria's chuckle ball was a fan favorite!), it was time to get dolled up for church. We rushed off to make the 1:00 pm Spanish mass at St. Odilia's.  

After church and some relaxing time at home, we opened the last of our gifts then started prepping for dinner. Rose insisted on buying me a gift this year and was very excited for me to open it.  She thought it was a quite fitting gift - a rose bear from Rose.

She also insisted on buying a gift for Kate, although it may have actually been more of a gift for herself! Kate was less than impressed with the box of chocolates, and Rose wasted no time digging in to sample the treats.

Up to this point, Kate had been very worried that she didn't get the one thing on her Christmas list that she really wanted - a trio of little dolls she had seen in a catalog. She was so thankful to open her gift and find her dolls waiting inside. She also got a new stroller and car seat for her baby dolls. She's quite the motherly little girl.

Rose had asked for a device to stream music, but with the iPod discontinued, she'd have to settle for her own iPad. She was thrilled! 

Cole didn't have many ideas for his Christmas list. He's now a teenager, so he has outgrown most toys. His facial expression of pure shock was priceless when he opened his present to discover that he also got his very own iPad.

Owen didn't have many items on his Christmas list this year other than cash. But after pressuring him to come up with at least a few ideas, at the last minute, he decided to add an Apple Watch to his list. So it wasn't a huge surprise when he opened his gift to see a watch hidden inside.

Aria loves ripping open presents. I had to retape several boxes she had tried to open prematurely weeks prior to Christmas. Now that she could finally open her gigantic gift, she thought it best to be as silly as possible and kept stashing the paper in her mouth. She'd then glance at me with a mischievous look on her face and wait for a reaction. Little stinker!

Once she finally got her enormous box unwrapped, she was pretty intrigued by the photo of her new water table. Too bad it'll be many more months before she can test it out.

Our Christmas Day celebration ended with a delicious meal of Caesar salad, crab legs and cheesy potatoes. We were all so stuffed that Jesus's birthday cake would have to wait until the next day.

But our Christmas festivities didn't end there. A few days later, Nana Bev and Popi Jerry came to celebrate yet again!

We opened more gifts, played games, and had a wonderful time enjoying the Christmas Spirit.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours! May your home be filled with joy, your heart with love, and your life with laughter in the new year and beyond!