A Teary-Eyed Christmas Eve

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Since we have four families to celebrate the holidays with, we usually spend Christmas Eve at my mom's to give us a little more breathing room on Christmas Day.

After finishing up some last minute wrapping, we headed over to Grammy and Grandpa's for our annual Christmas dinner and presents.

Grace was excited to leave and sat by the front door trying to put her shoes on:


When we got there, she hung out by all the presents playing with some Christmas lights:



She wasn't happy when I tied her up in them:


Once she was tired of those, she moved on to the piano and played a beautiful recital for all of us:


(Child prodigy right here!)

Then she chased Nikki around trying to make her eat a foam plate:


We set the table for dinner and enjoyed a delicious meal of butternut squash soup, green beans, and a roast:


After dinner, Grace passed out. It was perfect timing for Grandpa and Daddy to bring her big toys in and put them near the tree:


I immediately woke her up, because 1 - I was super excited for her to see her new presents and 2 - I needed her to go to sleep right when we got home, so Isaac and I could put together her other gifts.

It took her a minute to warm up to opening gifts since she was so sleepy, but after a few, she was all over it. She LOVED her new ride and her doll house:


She even helped us put together her new Beauty and the Beast tea set:


Grandpa got a new bike since he's been wanting to start hitting the trails around the lake:


We got some really nice mugs and a plaque for our pot shelves and an iPad 2:


My favorite gift of all though was a Swarovski crystal ornament from my mom:


It was their 20th Anniversary ornament and the slogan read:


I cannot wait to pass this down to Grace someday. Christmas is al about traditions, and I want to make sure we put this somewhere special each holiday season so that she really appreciates it when I tell her that she can take it to her own home someday. It makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it.

We had a great Christmas Eve! Thank you Geni, Mom, and Rick for making it so special for us.

I can't believe that next year we'll have Grace AND an eight month old baby girl to share it all with!

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