Christmas Day

Kevin and I thought that this may be the year that Ava actually woke up first Christmas morning and came bounding into our bedroom at the crack of dawn.  Well, it turns out the Hays-Daniel sleep gene is indeed strong in our child as well as her parents.  My parents and grandparents always come over very early Christmas morning so they won't miss Ava seeing her "Santa" presents.  When they got to our house at 7:30 that morning, it was our dogs barking that woke Ava up.  It was time to get Christmas started!  I love how the tree looks first thing in the morning.

Santa came and brought those three things that Ava had been telling him she wanted for the past month:  a shopping cart with a seat for her baby, a cash register, and the beam and bar set for her McKenna doll.

He also left two big bags of goodies for her!

Ava went to check and see if Santa had enjoyed the cookies we made for him.  Sure enough, he had--and this year she was able to read the thank you note he left her all by herself.   

When Ava began to open her presents from Kevin and me, she was excited to find one dealing with her latest obsession--Full House!  It's pretty neat that her favorite TV show was also one of my favorites growing up.  I enjoy sitting down with her to watch an episode and realizing I remember it from 20+ years ago.  Also, I enjoy Uncle Jesse a lot more now.  ;)

The dogs got lots of fun goodies.

Janka really liked the new toy that Ava picked out for her.  We really wanted to make her first Christmas special.

Then it was time for Ava to hand out the presents that she picked out for everyone.  I took her to the Dollar Store and we spent almost 2 hours there while she worked very hard to find the perfect present for the people on her Christmas list.  She took her shopping very seriously and it was fun watching the thought she put into the process.  She got her Neena a ceramic toy store.

 She picked out a football night light for her Papa.  It is now proudly displayed by his sink in their bathroom. ;)

 Kevin got a little back massager because the three of us love to take turns rubbing each others shoulders.

 Ava got her Nonie a scented candle.

 And I saved the best for last...Ava thought the perfect present for her PooPoops would be this Super Swatter fly swatter.  I love what it says, "FLIES DON'T STAND A CHANCE! 25% BIGGER! HIGHER HIT RATE!  NOW WITH MAXIMUM SNAP!"  We were all cracking up (discretely, of course).  Classic!  PooPoops LOVED his gift and told Ava he would get lots of use out of it.

We all enjoyed breakfast

except for Ava who was too excited about setting up her new bedroom set for her McKenna doll from my parents to be distracted by food.

We went to Kevin's parents for Christmas lunch like we do each year.  The tree over there looked beautiful too.

We had a relaxing afternoon eating, opening gifts, and visiting with each other.  Ava was excited to hear about what Santa brought to her cousins.

I feel this is actually a more accurate portrayal of their personalities.

Kevin got in some good bonding time with his brother.

Before long, it was time to go pick up my grandparents and then our good friend, Meme, to go to Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncle's house.  Yes, we eat three big meals every year on Christmas day.  It's all about pacing yourself.  And wearing loose-fitting pants.  After dinner, it was time for one of my favorite Christmas traditions--Dirty Santa.  Here are some pictures of the fun:

Meme actually got a really nice tumbler and tea gift set from Starbucks.  She was pretty stoked that nobody stole it.

 Nonie wasn't so fortunate.  I don't even know what all this mess was--something about Power Rangers which I know she knows nothing about.  She put on a happy face though and then hoped someone else had a need for tiny teens wearing outfits resembling the Skittles rainbow.  

Poor Brittany gets screwed over every year during this game.  Kevin did however read that of all the As Seen on TV products, the Lint Lizard performed the best during experimental testing.  So, you know, that's some consolation.

Kevin was pretty excited about these glasses until someone stole them from him (ahem...Uncle Bill) so he did what any good husband what do and he stole something that he knew I would like so that I could have two cool gifts.  Sigh....true love.

We opened our real gifts and had fun hanging out together.  I love this picture of Ava and her Aunt Meme.

I hate that I didn't get more pictures of the kids this year but it turned out all the ones I took were blurry because they wouldn't stop moving from all the Christmas excitement.  Next was one of my other favorite traditions--filling up tins with all the treats that we each brought.  So much yummy stuff to choose from each year and this year was no exception.

All of this is a lot of fun, but each year we make sure to end the evening in the most important and meaningful way.  We gather the kids and sing happy birthday to Jesus.  After all, He is the reason for the season!  This year, the kiddos each had their own huge cupcake with a candle to blow out.

 It was a wonderful day and I thank God each year that we are able to spend it together!