We woke Christmas Eve ready and excited!!! The previous week I had taken each kiddo out separately to pick out a gift for one another. Then we came home, wrapped them, and put them under the tree. This was so exciting for both of them. They couldn't wait to give each other what they picked out. We decided to let them exchange Christmas Eve morning (after George decided to play and build with the other gifts that were already under the tree...look to the left of the photograph below).
They loved their gifts and this was a great idea as playing with a new toy gave us time to get things ready for Christmas Eve and my parent's house.
We went to a lovely service near my parent's and sister's house. Magnolia and George really loved it. It was a childrens service and they got to sing, be blessed, and hold candles in the dark church while singing
Silent Night. I think this was pretty magical for them. :) Then we went to my parent's house with my visiting sister and her three girls, and some friends of my parents. My mom made the same seafood dish she has made since I can remember and we had a tray of wonderful cookies and candies. Just as we were finishing dinner we heard the jingle of the elves outside leaving a bag full of new Christmas pajamas for everyone! Here are the kiddos handing them out and ripping them open.
Matching pajamas for these two! They put them out and barely stayed awake for the ride home. Thank goodness for the Dreamlites Nana and Papa gave them, they lit up our car in many beautiful colors and kept them awake long enough to rush home to set out cookies and milk for Santa (and eight carrots for the reindeer!). We read
Twas the Night Before Christmas and into bed they went closing their eyes as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
After we woke up we found filled stockings at the foot of our beds and opened them while having a little juice, and then we made our way downstairs to discover this! Santa came! This is what he brought for George!
This is what he brought for Magnolia!
And this is what we found under our tree!
Magnolia sees it all first!
She sees her pony peering out from the chair where I am standing to take this photo.
George finds his things and gives his Spiderman punching bag a big hug!
She loves her new Pinto.
Right there and then she names it "Pint."
American Girl Bitty Twins! One that looks like Magnolia and one that looks like George!
And bunk beds for the twins that Mr. Claus made and Mrs. Claus sewed the bedding.
George's favorite gift by far is his punching bag. Too bad it never even made it through the day.
At least there was a drum to bang on...
Then Magnolia and George discover a gift hiding under a blanket. They are horse jumps that George made for Magnolia!
She tries them immediately. If you don't know Magnolia, you must know that she has a real talent for running on all fours like a horse and jumping these hurdles are no exception to her talent...she does it with the same grace and beautiful form of any horse. :)
It was a fun, fun morning. A roaring fire, lots of coffee, music, playing, lounging in pajamas, and a late breakfast of all sorts of goodies. I just love this part of the day...
George opens a gift I made for him. A superhero cape with a "G" on it, a matching eye mask, and a sword. The sword has been a well loved gift even though it is stuffed cloth. It has already come apart with some wicked swings he's performed with it.
The rest of the day we prepared for our Christmas dinner. My parents and two sisters and their families came for dinner. The only photographs I took were of us all sitting down to dinner when they all asked me to stop taking photographs so I know they would not appreciate if I posted them. It was SO comical though, I'm glad I have photographs to remember. Our dining room is very small but for some reason I was insistent that we all sit together. SO, I fit all fifteen of us around our table. While it looked pretty before we all sat down, it was the tightest squeeze when we did. We were shoulder to shoulder and when someone finally said something about it, we erupted in laughter and jokes. To say it was an intimate dinner is an understatement. :)
In retrospect, however, I think it made for the perfect Christmas day....family closeness and laughter.
I hope all of yours was as merry and bright!
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