Christmas Eve...

On Christmas Eve after going to church we came home and opened a few gifts before retiring to bed so Santa could come.  The boys were excited to open presents and everyone had fun getting to open a gift or two.  This year we were blessed to have my Grandfather with us for the few weeks before Christmas and we really enjoyed celebrating Christmas with him.   Here are a few photos to recap the fun that was Christmas Eve in our home as a family for the second time.

By this point the boys were saying, "enough pictures Mom, can we open our presents?"

And the first package they decided to open was this mysterious and very heavy box from our wonderful neighbors.  They are always spoiling the boys and giving them treats that mom and dad won't give them.

So we really shouldn't have been too surprised when we opened up the HUGE box to see if was filled with 10+ pounds of candy.  "Please mom, can we have just 5 or 7 or 9 pieces of candy?  We promise we'll control our sugar, we promise." 

And then Mom got to open a gift that Gabriel had made me.  An ornament with 5 snowmen made from his hand print.  It comes with a great saying and I hung it proudly on our tree to share.

And then it was Gabriel's turn again.  The kid LOVES balls.  He was so excited and wanted to play catch right then.

And then it was Michael's turn which he happened to get a tool, or in his words, "toodles" set. 

When it became Grandpa's turn to open his presents, there were two helpers that made sure the wrapping paper was removed in less than 5 seconds.

And finally Dad's turn.  I guess Jack was interested in seeing what was in the box too.

And after seeing it was just batteries and a flashlight... he jumped down from Jarrett's lap and went to sleep in his bed.

And one of the other highlights from the night was when Gabriel opened up a gift Michael had gotten for him.  Michael picked out two small candy canes and one afternoon while Gabriel was at school, Michael wrapped them himself.  As Gabriel opened up and saw there were two candy canes you would have thought he had just opened up a trip to Disneyland.  He grabbed Michael, wrapped his arms around him and said, "Thank you so much Michael!  I love you!" and then they hugged.  It was heartwarming to see that the two brothers, who continue to be the bestest of friends, love and care for each other so much.

Until next time,
angie