Christmas Eve

Due to my being behind on posting the pictures from Christmas, and due to the fact that my time is limited, I am going to skip Flashback Friday in order to try to get over the Christmas pictures. I am not sure if anyone even wants to see these at this point, but oh well.

I felt compelled to take a lot of pictures this year for a couple reasons. First of all, it is Elizabeth's first Christmas, and I don't want to do the whole jipping the second kid of pictures thing. Also, since I just got a new lens, I am still working on using it, and so it gave me a good opportunity to practice.

Unfortunately, I was way more excited about it being Elizabeth's first Christmas than Elizabeth was.
I know. What a party pooper.

She even felt this way about her gift that I bought her. Grandpa Dick did luck out though, because what is as sweet as a sleeping baby?
Grace, on the other hand, was beyond excited. She opened each of her gifts with the enthusiasm of someone who has just won the lottery. She exclaimed "oh wow, oh wow" for each one proclaiming it was just what she wanted. Gunnar and I got her a suitcase for our travels. She has already used it once to sleep over at Grandma's.
Not only was she excited about her gifts, but she was also very excited about everyones gifts. She helped everyone open their gifts. Like the calendar for my mom.
Grandpa Dick got the girls a stuffed bear. It is super soft and about the same size as Elizabeth.
Maria and Gunnar always exchange gifts and try to find something that the other person would love or would make them laugh. Maria totally scored this year with something that he loves AND makes him laugh. Elvis coffee, who knew such a thing existed.
Grace also had the oh so important job of delivering the gifts. It's fun being a kid on Christmas!
My mom got Grace Playmobil's which are Grace's favorite, and my favorite when I was a kid. They are great toys and Grace kept saying "I LOVE playmobils, I LOVE playmobils."
Elizabeth didn't sleep the entire time, although she did spend most of the day with her grandpa's. Here she is with her other grandpa, Grandpa Pa, just chillin' while he chatted with Grandpa Dick.