Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas we had full of fun, food and joyous memories. To kick off the celebration, we trekked down to Apple Valley to Nana Judy's and Popi Dave's house on Christmas Eve. 

We had a delicious meal of mostaccioli (a Dineen family tradition) along with a wide assortment of sides and desserts. After lunch, the kids were excited to open up their gifts. They quickly ripped them all open and were thrilled to see what fun items were hiding inside.

Aunt Donna put together a special ping-pong game for the occasion. Everyone gathered around the table as we passed around a muffin tin and attempted to toss a ping pong ball into one of the numbered slots. Our little ball throwing super fan Aria thought this was an exceptional idea and kept on tossing the ping pong ball across the table long after the game had ended. 

   

Somehow Owen managed to fall asleep on the couch despite the exciting ball tossing game happening just across the room from him.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home. Christmas morning would come much too soon and we had lots of preparations to complete before bedtime. 

After getting on their pjs, Rose and Kate made sure to put out Santa's milk and cookies along with a special treat for the reindeer before venturing up to their beds for the night. They didn't want to risk spooking Santa so made sure to stay put in their rooms until he had come and gone.

Morning arrived and we all crept out of our rooms to see what El Nino Jesus had left for the kids (although I'm fairly confident Rose had snuck a peak many hours prior). 

Cole had only asked for one thing for Christmas - a retro Xbox 360 wrestling game from 2012. He had been asking and asking about the game and wondering if he would receive it for Christmas. To his delight, he did! He eagerly snatched it up (completely ignoring the new headphones he also received) and off he went to finally play his long awaited game.

Aria thought her gifts were quite fun as she attempted to pull the many rings off of the octopus's arms.

Kate had a bit of trouble waking up. Knowing that her present was waiting for her just around the corner didn't even help. She was a bit cranky, that is, until she saw her gifts from El Nino Jesus. Then she perked right up with a big smile.

Owen was the last up and made his grand appearance by crawling out of his room in an attempt to indicate that it was much too early to be awake but that he simply couldn't resist missing out on the fun.

With everyone now up, we were finally off to the main floor to see what Santa had brought. But FIRST! The obligatory Christmas morning photo of all our babes in a row in front of the tree...

Shane then delivered the stockings full of goodies to all the kids. The kids ooh'ed and aah'ed (with a few squeals of delight) as they pulled out one surprise after another.

We took a break to gobble up some yummy homemade caramel rolls before returning to unwrap the rest of Santa's gifts. They each received some fun items from Santa...

A ball popper, bowling set, and plates...

A mermaid palace...

A snow cone maker...

An electronic dance mat game (for my boy who loves to dance!)...

And a massage cushion (perfect for our teenager who loves to lounge)...

We thought we had found all the presents that Santa had left behind, but we discovered two boxes addressed to Rose and Kate. Each included a note from Santa to please take care of its contents. Both Rose and Kate had been hoping that Santa would bring a pet for our elf on the shelf. Well, Santa didn't just bring one pet but TWO! Both an arctic fox and a St. Bernard puppy! Rose couldn't decide whether to name the fox Snowflake or Snowball so she's still contemplating the best name. But Kate quickly declared the puppy to be named Brownie.

After all the excitement opening gifts, it was time to get dolled up for Christmas Mass. We attended the 1:00 Spanish mass at St. Odilia's. It's become somewhat of a tradition for us, although there was a bit of grumbling this year accompanied by plenty of requests for a translator as our Spanish is not so great.

After mass, the kids were begging to open the presents from Mom and Pa. But first, Rose wanted to give Kate a gift from her...an extra satin pillow case that she had received but didn't need so she gifted it forward to her little sis.

 

Finally, the last of the gifts were opened. The kids were all happily surprised with their gifts. Thank goodness the piles of boxes that were hiding them in the office went unnoticed. Electronics seemed to unintentionally be the theme this year. Owen received a new computer as his old one's screen was literally hanging on by a wire.

Kate got her very own iPad so she no longer needs to share with Aria. And the case just had to be orange per her request.

Rose received a polaroid camera and she wasted no time printing out photo after photo.

Cole got a new Xbox so he can now play all the latest and greatest Xbox games.

And Aria got a remote controlled, battery operated ride-on car. She loved cruising back and forth in the family room and will no doubt have a blast driving it around outside this spring.

Now onto the dinner preparations... Everyone had been looking forward to what's become our traditional Christmas dinner - crab legs! The sides may vary by year, but it's the crab legs that are the crowd favorite (at least for Owen, Rose and Kate - they sure do love their crab legs!) After dinner, we sang happy birthday to Jesus and blew out the candles. 

What a wonderful end to a joyful Christmas season. Here's wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!