We arrived late in the evening with no significant events on the way to Dallas. All of the kids were still awake and so Gabby immediately began playing. We let them stay up for an hour while we visited with Grandma and Grandpa and then everyone went to bed. The next day was Christmas Eve and a very eventful day. By 10:00 a.m. Aunt Donna, Uncle Kenneth, Leslie and Michael and their kids, and Megan and Zach were all at the house visiting with us. The kids basically all became reacquainted and then they enjoyed pizza. It was a short but nice visit. After that they had to leave for church and it was time for us to get ready for church. We met Aunt Sharon and Uncle Lee at their church and worship the reason for the season, Jesus. Then we ALL headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to enjoy a wonderful family dinner and a time of relaxation.
Before bedtime Reagan read the kids the story of Jesus being born directly from the Bible and she did very well. Finally we put the kids to bed, but Mommy and Daddy forgot to allow Gabby to put milk and cookies out for Santa! So we scooped her up out of bed and had her put out cookies and milk for Santa. The kids went to bed easily because they played hard and were worn out. While waiting for all of the kids to fall asleep to ensure Santa could come, the adults (all except Grandpa) and Catie played Cards Against Humanities. We laughed so hard we spit out drinks and our sides hurt. It was a fun and memorable event. Finally around 1:00 a.m. the adults went to sleep ready to see what Santa would bring.
The next morning the kids awoke at a reasonable hour, around 8:00 a.m. and once we had all of the adults corralled we allowed the kids to go down stairs and begin passing out their gifts. The kids loved opening their gifts. It was an hour of ooohs and ahhhs. Each kid showing their excitement for their special gifts. Once all of the gifts were opened, we all enjoyed breakfast together and then the kids had the day to do as they please. Michael and Uncle Lee were both pretty sick so they just laid around in their pajamas for most of the day. The cold did not stop Michael from a full on Nerf gun war with the girls. There were lots and lots of giggles and squeals. It was quite hilarious. Gabby and I went on a little walk just the two of us. We also made cotton candy with Gabby's cotton candy machine and went for a ride to look at Christmas lights. It was a great Christmas. The only thing more we could have asked for would have been Gabby's wish for snow to come true! We are so blessed to have such a lovely family.
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