Christmas Eve...Afternoon and Evening

We spent the rest of the morning reading our new books and our collection of Christmas story books. The favorite this year was the Nativity Lift the Flap book. After a quick lunch (very quick), we got dressed up and opened the Christmas presents that were under the tree. We made sure to read all the labels very carefully to make sure Ethan understood they, in fact, were not all from the UPS man.

We tried to get a nice picture before the paper started to fly, but the kids weren't in the mood to sit still. Here's the best one we got. Doesn't Mary Kate look angelic with her finger in her nose?

Mary Kate wore the Santa hat (that Grandma Mary made for Dad when he was a little boy) and handed out the first present. It was a Twister game for Dad. Cool!

Here are a few highlights from the gift opening:

Mary Kate and her Pound-A-Ball (from Ethan)

Ethan and his new snow shoes (from Uncle Justin)

Mary Kate with a cool gears toy from Nana.

Ethan trying on his new Scooby Doo hat from cousin Zachary. Thanks, Zach-man!

Ethan exclaims "Oh, wow!" upon opening the Matchbox Raceway from Nana.

Mary Kate LOVES her new kitchen playset from Uncle Justin. Especially the tea set.

After church, we had our traditional lasagna supper, got into our comfy pj's and wrote a note to Santa. Here it is, dictated and signed by Ethan. Then it was off to read books and snuggle into bed.