December 24th

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve morning, we woke up early...before the kids woke up, and got ready. Then, when the kids got up they were excited and knew there were presents waiting to be opened upstairs. It was a little tricky because Caleb and Addison woke up before Kailyn did, but we kept them occupied for about 15 minutes and thankfully she woke up so we could rush upstairs. Caleb and Addison were SO excited. They were so much fun this year. They were both so eager to open presents but also so thankful and sweet when they opened each gift. They also got excited to watch other people open gifts too. Kailyn just enjoyed watching all of the excitement! Everyone was very spoiled at Grandmama and Grandad's and we were so thankful for our gifts. The kids played all morning while we all cleaned up and packed up.

Caleb and Addison both got guitars!!!

Caleb and Addison thanking each other for their gifts.

Caleb got Addison the Brave doll and horse- she loved it!

Addison got Caleb a farm set and he was over the moon excited.

Kailyn showing off her new Vera Bradley backpack.

Getting love from Grandad!

Kailyn protecting her stash- smart girl!

We got Grandad a new golf bag.

And Grandad surprised Grandmama with a new laptop...she had no idea and was so excited! Now she can check her facebook and pinterest :)

Just a few short years ago, if you had told me Christmas could be even better- I would not have believed you. I have always enjoyed it so much...not just the presents, but everything that comes with the holiday. But now, experiencing it all through the eyes of my children, it is so much better!!

After Kailyn woke up from her morning nap, the car was loaded up with most of our stuff...a few things had to stay behind in Guntersville to be picked up later. Yes, my 3rd row SUV could not carry it all home- a little ridiculous!! And a little scary to think that Santa had not even come to our house yet at this point. We headed up to visit with Pepaw and eat lunch with all of Grandad's side of the family. It was a beautiful day outside and the kids had a blast searching for pecans in the backyard. In fact, they filled up an entire Wal-Mart sack full. The kids got tired quickly, it had been a long weekend already. So we headed back home to Huntsville and let the kids nap in the car. When we got home, we had just enough time to unpack the car and get changed for Church. Gran Gran met up with us and went to Church with us. Afterwards, we ate dinner at Applebee's before heading home to prepare for Santa (which I previously wrote about on Christmas Eve: )

I put a book of our Gatlinburg trip together for Pepaw. He had previously said he only wanted pictures for Christmas. Well, when I was going back through the pictures trying to decide which ones he might like, it was too many to frame. Needless to say, he loved it! He may be getting a book every Christmas from now on.

Caleb's favorite thing to play at Pepaw's house!!

While at Grandmama and Grandad's for the weekend, Leah the Elf traveled with us. Christmas Eve morning was the last time she would visit the kids this year so she came with an early Christmas present for Caleb- a Veggie Tales DVD and a little Larry. On Christmas Eve night, she flew back to the North Pole with Santa and we will see her again next Christmas....

On the 23rd, Leah got into the Christmas stickers!

Leah on the 24th with an early Christmas present from Santa.