Christmas Eve with the Whole Family

My family always gets together on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas. I like this tradition because it turns Christmas into a 2-day affair and it eliminates travel on Christmas day. I was feeling strangely emotional (think raging PMS, but it wasn't) all day and was battling it so that I'd be in good form. I spent most of the morning in the kitchen making pie, Christmas cake and funeral potatoes. I was enjoying the Christmas music and group effort with Randy and the kids, but I kept feeling like I was going to start sobbing any moment (not my favorite feeling).

 Also on my mind was the gift I'd ordered for my parents. I tracked it online and saw that it was scheduled to arrive that day which gave me hope because our mail usually comes by noon on Saturdays...but not this time. I was crushed. Randy and I were looking down our snow-free street trying to spy the mailman before we left but there was no such luck.

Apparently when Santa drives around town he drives a red station wagon!

It was good to see Andrew home for Christmas and enjoying some nachos.

It's crazy how tiny the kitchen feels when we're all there, but 17 people is a lot!

The kids ate in the kitchen (we were also celebrating Austin's 11th birthday).

The adults were in the dining room for a couple hours talking. We had a couple belly laughs which I loved.

Austin was super anxious to get his birthday party going so we gathered in the kitchen again for presents and birthday brownies.

Randy made this awesome card of Austin in his soccer uniform reading (he's a big reader).

My mom originally planned for the grandkids to do a talent show on Thanksgiving, but it didn't happen that day so we did it for Christmas instead. Bella and Megan played a couple songs on the violin, Tess played a song on the piano, Austin told some jokes, Olivia sang a Christmas song, Landon talked about his physical therapy progress, and Whitney told a funny story.

Andrew was dying to open "pesents" so we let him go first. It's so fun to watch him because he almost can't contain his excitement.

The funniest moment came when he opened a black jacket which he spied and handed to Lori so quickly it didn't seem possible that he could have even looked at it. He knew it wasn't a DVD or something Toy Story-related so he wanted nothing to do with it!

I think my mom looks so cute in this picture!

Amy was in action!

Landon was very pleased with the shoes my mom and I picked out for him, but that my parents bought for him.

My mom cracked us up by numbering the presents this year rather than writing our names on them. She used to do this when we were kids so that we couldn't figure out who had more presents than each other, it helped the grand kids keep from piling the gifts up in front of people.

Ashley got this huge American Girl horse which proved to be a huge draw for all the girls. They took turns brushing its hair, which made me wonder if perhaps they wouldn't all enjoy a wig for Christmas.

I had this collage print made for Andrew and his love was evidenced by the 10 full seconds he spent looking at it!

Lori gave Landon a Miami Heat t-shirt, which he absolutely loved.

Whitney's big gift from my parents was a bike! She had picked this out months ago with my mom but had changed her mind and decided not to get it for her birthday. It's a huge bike and a stark contrast from the tiny bike she's been riding for years.

My dad's only request was for family photos to put in his flip-frame at work. Me, Robyn, Lori and Amy all had a bunch printed and put them in an envelope for him...he should be stocked for quite awhile.

Amy had my name this year and made me 2 pairs of earrings and a charm for a necklace! I love all of these items and was thrilled to get them.

My new charm!

Lori is very generous and buys presents for everyone just because. She gave me a new book and a gift certificate for a pedicure, woohoo!

We ended the day by saying goodbye to Andrew who was freshly bathed and set up with his favorite toys in my parents' room as always.

**Do you draw names in your family?

Do you ever get emotionally overloaded at Christmas?

Did all of your gifts arrive on time?

Did you Santa driving around town?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I've been managing my time off from work rather poorly and can't decide if I'm okay with that or not. It's nice not to "have" to do things, but it's frustrating to have whole days disappearing without much to show for them.