On Christmas Eve Grandma took us all to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. That evening we went to Grandma Great's house for the annual Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange. Rylee had so much fun playing with all her cousins and even asked to eat downstairs with the other kids rather than sit by us for dinner. Here she is sitting with Ben (he has always been one of her favorites!) waiting to open presents. Anyone who spends much time around Rylee knows how huge this is for her. She is doing so much better around the big groups and less familiar people that used to terrify her.
Rather than exchanging gifts between everyone like we used to (there are now 35 of us, including great-grandkids, plus two more on the way), we decided to just get together for a fun dinner and give presents to Grandma Great. Grandma Great had presents for everyone else to open, too! Rylee was so excited to open hers that she could barely wait for her turn. Jayden was more interested in seeing how his tasted than worrying about what was inside.
Chad and I got a giftcard to Chili's (yumm!) and the kids got new footie jammies! In fact, all the unmarried kids got jammies. It was quite a sight to see them all lined up in their new sleepwear. (We missed Dawson while they were enjoying the nice weather in San Diego, though. Maybe we can photoshop his jammie shot in!)
(I had to get a picture of just Randi. You can't beat a 16-year-old in footie jammies!)
I even got Rylee, Jayden and Grandma Great all in the same spot to take a picture. (The first one was the perfect "funny face" picture, even though they weren't really trying to!)
After leaving Grandma Great's house, we came home to get ready for bed so Santa could come! First Rylee and Jayden got to open their Christmas Eve present from mom and dad (another fun tradition that we have started in our own little family). More jammies!!
(I think Jayden must have been expecting something better. He didn't seem all that impressed by another box filled with jammies. Rylee was enthusiastic enough for both of them, though!)
After putting on their new jammies, we put out the traditional milk and cookies for Santa then read The Night Before Christmas. They were both so excited that I thought it would be hours before they fell asleep. (They passed out as soon as they hit the bed, though!) We did manage to get a good picture of their Christmas jammies before they went to bed. (P.S. It took 15 shots to get this one good one.) Aren't they so cute, though? This might just top the charts as my new favorite picture of these guys together!!
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