Christmas Eve

I just love how each family has their own holiday traditions. There are several that I would love to take on as my own (in due time) like going to a tree farm to pick out the perfect tree, reading a different Christmas book each night before Christmas, putting your shoes out for Santa to leave gifts in, etc.... my parents (well, my mom) always gave me a new set of pajamas to open on Christmas eve and Santa always left a new ornament in my stocking and Danny's Dad always read Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. And Although we did get the boys matching winter jammies for Christmas Eve and Danny read Twas the Night Before Christmas, Santa's little helper, Gramma Karen, still brought new ornaments for each of us.

Owen was just a little too excited to sit still for Danny's reading, but Ben managed to make it through the entire story (w/o falling asleep like Owen did on his first Christmas.)



We managed to get one or two pictures of the three of them by the tree. We have to ask Owen to give the baby a kiss in order to get him where we need him for a picture with Ben.

Danny and Owen decorated a few of the cookies we made last week and the one that Owen decorated all by himself, we saved for Santa.

Owen didn't understand that you leave the WHOLE cookie for Santa.... not just half.

After we finally got Owen and Ben to bed, Santa and her little helpers went to work assembling all the new toys and getting everything under the tree for Christmas morning. Let me just say, if Gramma Karen hadn't done A LOT of talking with Santa, the boys would have had a very very small Christmas.