Five Christmases

The good thing about living in the same town as most of your extended family is that you get to see everyone on all the holidays.

What else does that mean?

Lots & lots & lots of Christmas celebrations!
I am exhausted.
From December 24 through December 26 we were going non-stop from event to event.

We had 5 Christmas celebrations this year, here is a recap of all of them!

But first, I got a picture of BOTH girls, TOGETHER, in their Christmas dresses, and they are both smiling AND looking at the camera! Hallelujah! It's a Christmas miracle!
Christmas #1 - Christmas Eve at my parents:
We went to the Christmas Eve service at church (the girls were good the first 20 minutes, then we had to take them out so they could run around the hallways! My parents & Kevin said it was a really good service) After church we headed to my parents for dinner & to open presents. Yes, I was one of those (lucky) kids who grew up with the tradition of opening ALL your presents on Christmas Eve. Best tradition ever!

Pathetic attempt at getting a family picture. Oh well, we tried.
But truth be told, this is reality!
Sisters picture!

Kate was super excited about opening presents.
She started taking random presents & would start opening them.
(Luckily, most of them were for her or Claire. My sisters and I didn't exchange gifts this year & we adopted a family instead.)
She didn't want to wait for anyone!
Yay! Accessories for her dolls!
Claire on the other hand, could care less about the presents.
She would rather just hold the ribbon,
And, she kept walking around the downstairs looking at my parents different Christmas decorations.
Kate & Auntie El

Love the black & white on Christmas

Hooray! A picture of me & Kate!

It was WAY past Claire's bedtime, can't you tell?

Auntie Bots reading Kate a new book that she gave her.
Kate got to open the last 2 presents, my Grandma got the girls their own Minnie Mouse's.
Kate was BEYOND thrilled. Since Claire was in bed, we let Kate choose which color she wanted & which color Claire got.
Kate chose pink for herself & red for Claire.

After the presents were opened, we hung out for a little bit & then we took the girls home for the night. We had to get their presents & stockings ready for Christmas morning!
Kate was still awake when we got home, so we had her set out cookies & carrots for Santa and his reindeer.
We told Kate that Santa might get thirsty & we needed to also leave Santa some milk.
Her response? "I think Santa wants wine"
I was both proud AND horrified at the same time.
But, we followed Kate's request & Santa got wine!

Here is what the family room looked like AFTER Santa came to our house (around 2 am)

Of course, Santa brought Kate a towel, since that is the only thing she asked for.

Christmas #2 - Christmas morning at our house:
The girls both slept in until after 8 am on Christmas morning!
Kate was not in a good mood when she woke up, but we finally convinced her to come downstairs to see what Santa brought.
Here she is right when she walked downstairs saying, "I got a new towel!"
The girls checking out their loot.
Kate got a neat dot art set.
Claire was starting to get the hang of this "presents" thing.
Even though this is her 2nd Christmas, it felt more like her first since she was only 3 months old last Christmas.
Claire loved looking in her stockings.
There was pretty exciting stuff in there, like new socks & a new sippy cup.
Kate also got socks & a new crayons in her stocking.
She also got a box of cake mix & frosting.
We started a new tradition this year.
Every year we are putting this in their stockings so we can make a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake.
Kevin surprised me with a pair of Chocolate brown Uggs!
Thanks Kevin, you rock!
Claire got a drum & musical instrument set
Kate REALLY loved Claire's present (wearing her new towel, of course)
Claire is looking at Kate thinking, "Hey, you stole my present!"
Kate played these drums for over 10 minutes. Good times.
I also got a battery grip for my camera! Fun!
Christmas #3 - Christmas Brunch at Mimi's & Jimmy's:
After we opened presents at our house, we headed over to Mimi's & Jimmy's in our pajamas for Jimmy's 3 Meat Breakfast. Bacon, Sausage, Ham, my Mom's amazing eggs & I made Monkey Bread.
After brunch, we had stockings at their house also.
The highlight?
Kate got a fishing pole!
My dad actually went to a toy store and BOUGHT this for her.
Sidenote: My dad does NOT shop. My mom ALWAYS does the birthday/Christmas shopping.
I only remember one time in my life when my dad bought me & my sisters a Christmas present (matching pink & white lace bubble dresses)
So, I thought it was SO cute that he went to a toy store to get the fishing pole for Kate!
It was even his idea!
Here is Kate & Grandpa Jimmy "fishing" from the upstairs trying to "catch" something downstairs.
After "fishing" we watched "A Christmas Story" and then we got ready to go to Kevin's brothers for dinner. I put the girls back in their Christmas dresses so that Kevin's family could see them in their plaid cuteness! My mom has been requesting a picture with her & both girls (so she can change her facebook profile picture). And we FINALLY got one with both girls smiling!
Christmas #4 - Christmas Dinner at Kevin's brother's house:
When we arrived at their house we were greeted by the loud noise of my nephew playing on his new drum set!
Kyle even let Kate have a turn!
Then we went outside to check out my neice's new bike!
Claire thought it was pretty cool:
Kate just wanted to sit on the front steps & watch Lou Lou ride her bike up and down the street!
We had a great dinner, here is Kevin with his sister & brother.
Christmas #5 - Larson Family Christmas
On the morning of December 26th, we still had one final Christmas celebration.
Kevin's mom likes to have her own separate day to celebrate Christmas with the family.
Santa comes to her house also on that day....here are all 17 stockings:
Imagine our surprise when Kevin's mom unveiled this play house that she got the girls:
A very BIG playhouse for our very small backyard.
She didn't tell us she was getting this for the girls because she didn't want us to say "No".
And, how could we say no after seeing the girls reactions?
They LOVED it. Guess we are bringing it home.
Kevin's mom and I were also able to surprise Kevin with a Christmas present, he got a new laptop!
Kate also got a pink guitar:
Here she is trying to hold it up & strum at the same time.
She says she needs me to sew her a strap so she can hold the guitar.
(Kevin's mom got me a sewing machine, so I really DO need to sew her a guitar strap! Anyone have a pattern for that?!?)
To go along with Kate's guitar, Claire got a keyboard!
And, if you know Kevin or I, you know that we are not musically inclined AT ALL.
We figured if our girls have any chance at being musical, we need to start them early!
Here is Kate trying to sneak her stocking.
How cute are the shirts they have on?
Julie made them for the girls!
Thanks, Julie!
We had a busy, but fun filled Christmas!
I couldn't wait to take down my Christmas decorations on the night of December 26th
(yes, I am one of THOSE people who de-Christmas their house as soon as possible)
For the past couple of days we have been relaxing in Tahoe, hanging out in our pj's & enjoying the snow!