Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve tradition continued on this year, kicking off an amazing celebration of our savior's birth. I'd like to pretend that the reason for the holiday was SO front and center in Ryan's mind that his note to Santa featured the typo God instead of Good.  

The holidays are always a smidge more crazy for our fam than the average family because this is the most critical time of year for the client I serve. We spend November and December creating assets for their national sales meeting that takes place the first week of January. Thankfully this year I was able to work the morning from home, then spent the early afternoon wrapping the last of the loot. After we headed to my parents for "Christmas before Christmas," dinner and gifts :)

Our girl joined the cult of the American Girl Dolls this year. She named her Itty Bitty Baby, Tink. When Elise is not dressed as a superhero, she's nurturing her baby like a little momma. 

You'll notice two things in the photos of Ryan this year: his Maxx Traxx race set was a dream come true (it lights up in the dark as the cars wiz past you on the track you build yourself. Half our basement is currently a race track as I type) and that he changed his clothes a lot. Each new ensemble meant a new look. It became the trend for the night as you'll be able to see in the next series...

As most know, Elise is all about costumes and Nami continued the fascination with quite a few new outfits. The sweetest moment of the night was after dinner when Elise embraced her inner pirate (she's a HUGE Jake and the Neverland Pirates fan). She had no idea how cute she was until she discovered the mirror in the bathroom. 

Later that night after an amazing meal from Nami (steak with crab topping and creme brulee) and lego / racing play with Papa, we headed home to write notes for Santa and leave cookies and milk. It's hard to believe that after all this, our kids still had Christmas morning from Santa to look forward to. We stress that the reason for the holiday is to spend time with friends and family. But I have to admit that as a parent, there is great joy in watching their unbridled excitement at opening so many treasures. Many thanks to my parents for never leaving a childhood dream unacknowledged.