Christmas Eve!

We had a really nice Christmas Eve :)  We all have a little bit of a cold, which is definitely not fun :(  But, it was nice to hang around the house and relax.  Jackson and Josh got started on Christmas Eve dinner by making the pumpkin pie nice and early!  

Jackson also got a hold of a large set of bells we hang out each year.  He got such a kick out of swinging them and listening to the sound.  He even managed to make a little dance up!

Growing up, my dad's mom was still alive, and she came to stay with us for a few weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's.  My mom's mom would come over on Christmas Eve, and we would have our big dinner then.  We also would open presents from my mom's side of the family that night.  Christmas morning presents were from my dad's mom and my aunt, uncle, and cousins in California (also my dad's side).  Even though my dad's mom isn't alive anymore, we have sort of kept that routine going.  So, Nan came over on Christmas Eve for dinner and round one of presents :)  

Paxton even got an extra treat of strewn-about Cheerios!

We let Jackson open his presents after he had dinner and a bath.  The rest of us waited until he went to bed to eat our dinner and open our presents.  I can sum up all of Christmas by saying Jackson definitely gets the hang of opening presents now!  Yay!  He had a great time ripping into his presents from Nan and his Uncle Brad and Aunt Karol (my mom's brother and sister-in-law who live in Champaign, IL).  He got some new jammies, a Fisher Price Little People farm with plenty of new people and animals, an Aqua Doodle set, Color Wonder fingerpaint, a truck book that has wheels, and some new really warm socks!  He proudly displayed his new pjs for everyone to see :)  

We got in one more Hanukkah candle-lighting before bedtime.  Even though Hanukkah was over a couple of weeks ago, my mom started moving holidays around while we were in college so we could celebrate together :)  So, she saved a few nights of candles so we could light them together.  Jackson gave Nan, Uncle Larry, and Bampa personal escorts to the candle-lighting :)

Last year, I got some great shots of Christmas Eve good-night hugs, so I made sure to get some pictures this year too.