Christmas!

This year Christmas Eve was just like I remember it being as a kid - super long.  We tried really hard to occupy the kids all day; I had Bridget help me make cinnamon rolls, we re-filled our luminaries on the porch and lit them, we made reindeer food and spread it out on the grass.  All of that took up about an hour and a half.  The rest of the day was just waiting and more waiting.  The kids went to bed on time (Christmas miracle), then Brian and I stayed up to watch "Christmas Vacation" and... that's it. :)

Here is Colin behind the barricade on Christmas Eve.

Emil was the first child up on Christmas morning, but since it was 5:00 Brian gave him a bottle and then put him back in bed.  Bridget woke up at 7:45 and we made her wait in her doorway until we had the diapers changed and the babies could come out too.

A hoola hoop and a scooter!!  The dreams came true. Colin immediately checked under the hood of his new ride.  Emil noticed our bedroom door was open, so he went to see about getting all the stuff out of Daddy's nightstand drawer.  We let them open their pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Bridget has now worn that nightgown for three nights in a row.  :)

This is the first that Colin and Emil have had access to the tree and everything under it.  In between opening gifts I'd find one of them sucking on an ornament.  I really can't wait to put everything back in the boxes until next year.  Although I've heard it's worse with two year-old twins.  Maybe 2012 is the year we have an aluminum tree.  Or a Festivus Pole.  Emil would rock at the Feats of Strength.

Colin and Emil got some sweet wooden train cars from Aunt Jennie and Uncle Ben.  They know what boys need.

Emil is wondering what all the fuss is about these candy canes.  They're not that delicious with the plastic on.  I love that he is standing in this photo.  He walks around like bear.  Cute cute cute.

As is tradition, Daddy is wearing everything he's opened so far.  Emil is wearing the hoodie from Grandma Peggy.  (That is a new ski coat he's opening, not a blender.)

The boys were so crazy and destructive that we finally put them into their high chairs (and the tree back behind its barricade).  I had to get a shot of Bridget jumping on the bubble wrap in the background.  It was a noisy morning.

Since it hadn't been outside yet, we let Bridget ride her new scooter in the house on Christmas morning.  Daddy is setting up my new iPod Touch and the speaker deck he got for me.  Hooray!  Music is back upstairs!  We finished that puzzle on the dining room table earlier today and then we started another one. 

We ate our cinnamon rolls and played with our new toys, then got all dressed up for church.  Bridget is wearing the dress and headband from Mama.  She lost another tooth on the 23rd and she's still unsure how to smile without it.

Church was lovely with the singing and nice talks.  Not so lovely were our baby boys who ran wild in the gym (we thought we'd try the back of the chapel to see if it was any better than the front - it is not) and screeched and went boneless when we caught up with them.  Merry Christmas to everyone at church.  I did get to sing with the choir, which I love.

We were off to Grandma and Grandpa's after church.  They had crackers and summer sausage and chocolates and ham and hard rolls.  Brian made another cheese ball, too.  Ahhhh. 

Colin and Emil will be the death of all the fun musical toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  They did make it through Nate, though.  Maybe there's hope.

"Well, hello, Santa.  We meet again."

After everything had been opened at our house, Brian asked Bridget if she got everything she wanted.  "I got everything I asked for except my wings."  Sniff sniff.  Good thing Grandma and Grandpa came through. 

This year we got Grandpa a birdseed chalet.  A birdhouse made of birdseed!  Don't worry, I didn't make it.  Grandma got a picture of us and a calendar with all the faces of the people in her family.

Janessa, Emil, and Brian are watching Grandma and Grandpa open their gifts.

We let Bridget bring her scooter to Grandma's to show it off.  She's wearing the skirt from Mama, the headband from Aunt Jennie, and the wings from Grandma and Grandpa.  Oh, perfect day!

I know this photo is out of focus, but you have to love Emil's face here.  Grandpa likes to pretend he's a horsey and take the small kids for rides on his shoulders.  Emil LOVES to be thrown up in the air and that kind of craziness.  This was his favorite thing on Christmas Day.

I had to include this photo of all of us because we all have our own brand of crazy eyes happening here.  It was time to go home and go to bed.  What a wonderful Christmas season and Christmas Day we had this year!  I'm going to treasure it. :)