Oh, Christmas Tree!

I can't believe how fast Christmas came and went. It seems like there's no time to do anything before it's upon us.
As is our normal holiday routine, we spent Christmas Eve at Eric's parents' house playing games, eating and letting the little ones open all their presents and run wild. Mama Ginger tried to get all the older cousins on her little lap to read them the Christmas story-yeah, that lasted about two minutes before the complaining began ("I can't see", "I want to hold the book", "I want to sit on Nana's lap", etc.). Papa Ernie showed old home movies of Eric and his siblings when they were younger. That was AWESOME! Talk about some great blackmail material! :) Kidding, kidding! It was a fun night and Eric and I have really come to enjoy spending our Christmas Eves with the Miller clan. Good times.
We did things a little differently this year at our house. Instead of waking the girls up at the butt-crack of dawn in an effort to let them enjoy their toys for a few minutes before carting them off to my parents' house, we moved the party to our house. I have to admit it was nice to let the girls stay in their pajamas and just veg out watching them play.


Mom and Dad came over with Erin and Darby later that morning and we enjoyed eating our "cajun Christmas breakfast" as Darby called it (a few items got a little crispied this year-but it was still good).


We got up to my Grandma Grace's house later than usual so all my Dad's family had pretty much disappeared or were heading out the door by the time we got there. It gets too crowded in there anyway so I wasn't complaining. I missed Grandpa Lee opening all his presents that he would buy for himself ("To Lee, from Leland.") I also missed the little poem or note he would leave each of us with our Christmas money. I'm glad that I have saved the ones from years past.


Not that this will come as a shock to anyone, but Haylie and Mikaela were spoiled rotten. Haylie has enough Barbies to start a softball team with now and Mikaela has plenty of dolls and cleaning supplies to keep her happy for several years. Their grandparents and aunts must really love them. Oy!


Eric and I were happy just watching the girls open all those gifts. That's always the best part for us.


We also got to talk to Dallin! That was probably the highlight of my entire day. I wished I could've talked longer, but once my mom got ahold of the phone, it was over. Mama Sue holds an Olympic gold medal when it comes to hours talked. I almost felt bad for Dallin-there's only so much your ear can take! :) Suffice it to say that Mom and Dad's phone bill is going to costa plenty! I hope everyone had a good holiday season!