We had all decided that we wouldn't start Christmas until after 7am on Christmas Day. Even the kids agreed to it. Since our upstairs is open to the living room downstairs we also told the kids that they had to stay in their rooms. There was absolutely no peeking. Lucky for us they are older now and listen pretty well. At 7am I got the boys and brought them into the girls room. After everyone was finally gathered and Mike was all ready we sat the kids at the top of the stairs and took our traditional photo. I think my favorite part of the entire day was what happened next. I walked down to where the gifts were with my camera and then when I am ready I tell the kids to come on down. They sprinted down the stairs like their life depended on it so they could see what Santa brought them. I LOVE the expressions on their faces as they see what is waiting for them by the tree. This year from Santa Abby got the American Girl Doll Snack Cart, Emma got a Kindle, Peter got The Lonely Mountain lego set, and Andrew got a blue iPod touch. The rest of the gifts were opened rather quickly and before we knew it we were sitting in piles of gifts and wrapping paper. Before everyone dispersed to play with their various new gifts, we ate our traditional cinnamon rolls and milk. The rest of the day was spent being completely lazy lounging around in our pjs, playing with our new toys, and taking a nap.
Mike finally got his man purse.
Andrew gave Emma a little tutorial on how to use her Kindle. He is so good at that kind of thing!
Mike gave me a standing mirror for our bedroom. I have been wanting a good one since we moved to Colorado.
This was the gift we were all excited for Peter to open merely for its size. He was surprised when he opened this gift from Grandpa Al. It was a snow tube and boy was he excited. With all the snow we would get this gift would be fun to try.
Mike gets a LEGO set every year. This was a tradition started by his mom. I seem to never get cool enough sets so this year I decided that had to change. After realizing that all he wants are either planes, trains, or ships, I decided to get him a high speed train set with the station to go with it. I can't wait for him to set this one up.
All Andrew really wanted this year besides the iPod touch were Apple gift cards. He ended up getting 3 of them. Lucky boy!
A few years ago when we were living in Japan Mike got me these UGG slippers for Christmas. Since all of our floors were hardwood and the hallways were always cold it was important to have a good pair of slippers. Every year he gets me these UGG slippers. They are not cheap but they are worn almost every day and that includes during the warm months. I don't know what I would do without these slippers.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Mike and I got the energy to clean up the mess. We decided to all get ready and head to a movie. Not realizing how crowded it would be we got to the theatre right when the movie was about to begin and was bummed out when we found out it was sold out. So, we bought tickets for the next showing of "Night at the Museum 3" and went to get some dinner. We ended up eating Japanese food and it was delicious. Abby, Emma, and Peter got the kids dinner plate which had teriyaki chicken, rice, and tempura. Andrew, Mike and I all got our own tempura udon dish. Everyone LOVED the tempura and kept talking about how we should come back and eat Japanese again real soon. Maybe eating Japanese for dinner will have to be another tradition we add to our Christmas Day!