The kids had a fabulous Christmas. This was the first year that Kerala seemed to really get the idea that on Christmas day she would wake up and there would be a roomful of presents.
We started Christmas Eve off with opening up all of the great gifts from Grandma Sue. I am really happy we did that because it took forever to open gifts on Christmas. The kids would get distracted and want to play with what they had received, so it was like pulling teeth to get them to continue opening presents. After opening some gifts on Christmas Eve with Grandma Sue, we had a nice dinner at home. The kids went off to bed and we finished up all of the final preparations for the big day.
I am not sure if I mentioned, but Kerala is not really a morning person. We had to wake her up Christmas morning and basically prod her to get out of bed. Kian, on the other hand, was super psyched to go downstairs (although I don't think he realized what was awaiting him). The kids started with their stockings and that took quite some time because they were obsessed with all of the candy (note to Santa, not so much candy next year). Troy had made a really wonderful breakfast for us to eat on while opening presents - homemade cinnamon rolls, a donut hole Xmas tree, and an egg casserole (actually that was my contribution). After presents, the kids played with their new toys while we started preparing for Xmas dinner. Although Grandma Sue and Jeff did not stick around for Xmas dinner, they helped us prepare for our annual Xmas dinner with friends - thanks Sue for putting on the ham and keeping up with all of the dishes and thanks Jeff for shoveling our sidewalks). Dinner was fabulous - it was great to have a houseful of friends and family for our first Christmas in our new home.
We are now off for our annual New Year's trip - can't wait for a relaxing week with friends.
