Christmas Eve

We started our Christmas Eve celebrating a day early.

On Friday, since Ben had the day off work, we got donuts (from Legendary Donuts) for breakfast. Yum. It was a hit and a great surprise for the kids!

At naptime for the twins, Ben took the big kids to the cheap theatre to see "Puss in Boots." This was their second surprise this day and they were thrilled.

On Christmas Eve afternoon, I took the big kids to a local LDS bookstore to see Santa again. Mitch asked for "Cars 2" DVD again. This Santa had no idea what that was (I could totally tell), but gave Mitch a cute ornament and some chocolate.

Chloe then told Santa, (again) that she wants a Barbie Dream House.

And they got a quick picture together.

Back home, we had a fun day just being together. The kids love to wrestle with Ben, and many times throughout the day, he was being jumped on by 4 kids at the same time.

Isn't that why there is dad's? I got down on the floor for a second to join the fun and with even 2 bodies on me, I was done. Not my thing.

We played LOTS of Mario Kart Wii. It is so fun now that they kids can play it. Mitch is hilarious- he is definitely improving, but still finishes last 95% of the time. But he is so excited if he ever gets any points.

He concentrates really hard!

We do our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (so we don't have to do any big cooking on Christmas Day). Ben used one of his Christmas gifts early to make our Christmas ham- his new Traeger grill. It was delicious.

Dinner was yummy!

After dinner, Ben read the nativity story in Luke. We have talked about the nativity story and Jesus' birth a lot this month and I am amazed at how much my kids know, and that they really do understand the real meaning of Christmas. Sure, they love Santa and I think he is a fun and wonderful part of the magic of Christmas, but they know that we celebrate Christmas to remember the birth and life of our Savior. We have Nativity puppets and the big kids put on a number of puppet shows for us this month. Amazing to hear my 4 year old tell about the journey to Bethlehem and the angel announcing the Savior's birth.

After, I played the piano and we sang lots of Christmas songs/hymns.

4 happy kids waiting for their next surprise!

We pulled out our Christmas eve package and they were all anxious to see what was in it.

First their was a DVD. It was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Then came new snowman pajamas for everyone.

I have never seen those kids change into pj's so fast- they were all so excited.

Next we hauled in all the presents from the garage to put under the Christmas tree. We couldn't put gifts under the tree until tonight, as we have two 2 year olds who would likely unwrap everything early). Here is Lexi telling me this gift is "heavy!" One handed, too- no wonder it's so heavy!

Andros Family- Christmas Eve 2011

Everyone settled down to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" while I washed dishes (Leah helped).

Lexi clutching a nativity puzzle piece in one hand, and clutching Mitch's hand (fingers laced) in the other.

After the movie, everyone grabbed a quick treat before bed. Thanks to all the many, many treats brought over by friends and neighbors, we had LOTS of yummy things to choose from.

Then we got cookies and milk out for Santa, and the kids told me what to write in a note for Santa.

Cheese!

Our Santa note

The kids all told our elf Nicky goodbye as they headed up the stairs- this was his last night here until next year. We sure appreciate his diligent, watchful eye all month. He didn't make ALL the bad behaviors stay away, but he definitely helped.

Love the shot of our lit up tree. One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is seeing a Christmas tree lit up in a dark room. It looked extra beautiful last night and I was sad to know that it would soon be put away for the season.

Ben read the kids "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as they got into bed. The babies had a hard time settling down to go to sleep. They kept asking if "Santa eat cookies? And milkies?" They asked me that at least 30 times each. After shutting their door, I heard them talking about Santa and the cookies to each other. It is so fun to have them starting to get into all of the Christmas fun.