Merry Christmas!

We got home from our Christmas Adventure and decided that although it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, it was not too early to get comfy in our Christmas jammies. We relaxed for a while and then put out the Christmas Eve spread.

We stuffed ourselves with all sorts of goodies then started our traditional Christmas Eve program. Watching the kids faces glow by the light of the angel chimes is always my favorite part.

We all took turns reading this year and Caleb was great at manning the CD player--we sing the Christmas hymns while we read the story of Jesus' birth.

The girls took turns hanging the nativity ornaments on the tree.

We always watch the Little Drummer Boy as a finale before heading off to bed.

The kids came bounding into our room at 8:00 a.m., which for them is early. There's nothing quite like Christmas morning excitement.

Santa was good to all of us again this year.

Natalie got this playhouse to color. She and Emma played in it all day and she wanted to sleep in it, too.

Caleb picked this hula hoop for Alyssa. She's really good--we're not sure where she gets it because neither Jon nor I can make it even once around.

Santa brought Alyssa the Shawn Johnson Wii game she wanted and Jon and I got her a pogo stick. She'd never tried a pogo stick before but by the end of the day, she and Linsey had bounced a chunk of the plastic on the bottom of the stick right off! Their record was 200 consecutive jumps!

Caleb got NFL-opoly from Santa. He was thrilled! He was equally as excited by this gift from Grandma and Grandpa Hatch:

He also got the SEC conference helmets he'd been desperately wanting. The look on his face when he opened them prompted Jon to say, "Oh Caleb, that face is priceless!"

Alyssa got a bag of art supplies from Grandma and Grandpa Seely. It was so big, she could fit in it!

Jon was slightly disappointed that this box did not contain a Bose home theater system. I'm not sure he's going to ever convince me to buy it. It was just a new backpack. And it's really more for the present-opening experience because he soon went to the computer and ordered the one he really wanted.

Jon was really thoughtful of me, however and got me a new pair of Uggs that I really love.

The kids had enough toys and games to keep them busy the whole day through. But our celebrations were not quite complete until we sat down together for a nice Christmas dinner.

The kids eat like birds, barely picking at all the food, but just like all of the Christmas festivities, it's the feeling of celebrating in a special way together that I hope stays in their memories forever!

Merry Christmas!