As I've mentioned before, Christmas Eve is really the bigger deal in my family. And this year, my parents even braved the Alaskan cold & darkness to come up for Christmas. So fun!
No one except the boys and I put Christmas sprinkles on Grandmom's waffles at breakfast this morning. And here I thought Matt would use any excuse to enjoy sprinkles. His loss!
The Hydens were planning on coming over like they have the past two years. Except this guy just had to wake up with a case of pink eye this morning and everyone knows how contagious that is...
There was a case of pink eye reported in Henry's classroom last week and it somehow managed to jump brothers. Poor Thomas! On the bright side, they will now let you talk to the triage nurse to confirm the symptoms, so we didn't have to visit the doctor for Christmas Eve. Whew!
And since it's such a special day, I might have been spoiling the boys just a little bit. I can neither confirm nor deny that they have eggnog in those sippy cups.
The Hoyt side of the family did their Christmas celebration a day early as well, so we skyped with them so they could open their presents from us and the boys could open their gifts they got in the mail. So much excitement all around!
Aunt Jo sent the boys a super cool sticker set. It has several backgrounds and sticker sets for each one, plus the stickers are removable, so you can use it over and over again! Here Thomas is commenting on how Henry is not putting his train stickers on properly. It does look like there was a bit of a derailment...
I had to run to Target this morning to get Thomas' prescription and it wasn't quite ready for pick-up. Since I had 15 minutes to kill, I may have bought a few too many extra items. Like the aforementioned eggnog and these Christmas window clings. They were already on sale!
Finally it was the best part of the day - dinner time! I tried to get a cute family photo, but Matt kept making faces at the camera. I told him to be serious for one photo and this hand on the chin pose is what I got in return. Whatever, I'll take it.
Also note the kids are getting impatient to eat and already have their silverware in their mouth. :)
The traditional Christmas Eve dinner - French Onion Soup and fondue! I used the F-Street soup recipe again with a few tweaks this year. I think it is getting super close to the restaurant's version. Next year it will be perfect, I just know it!
Mom requested a family photo in front of the Christmas tree. Between my dad and my hubby, this was the only serious photo I got. Luckily, everyone is looking at the camera!
Present opening time! We decided to let the boys open all of theirs first so they would have some entertainment while the rest of us opened ours. They loved all of their presents, but the dress up clothes were my personal favorites! I love dress up time!
Nonni and Grandpa got them a Firefighter and Pilot outfit. So adorable! I think I may have squealed a little bit when they put the outfits on.
Nonni was pretty excited about some of her gifts as well!
I got several cool photography gifts - Heather got me a studio light set and Matt got me another flash (a Yongnuo). I was playing with them in the corner and Henry was very interested in the super bright light that kept going off. Thanks for the awesome present you guys, I can't wait to really play with them!
It seems Matt always figures out what presents I have bought him just by touching the box (does he have psychic powers?!?), so this year I mailed his big present to Heather and she kept it safe until today. He was super surprised by the super awesome Quadcopter I got him! The boys seemed pretty excited as well, it's been awhile since Dada has had a working helicopter to play with!
What a fun day we had - fun, food and time with family. Merry Christmas (Eve) to all & to all a goodnight! :)