Christmas Day

Our Christmas Day began at about 7:00 am, with Jillian being the first up and ready to go. Bridget and Tor were still exhausted from the late Christmas Eve night, so it took some doing to rouse them up. Once they realized that Santa had come, they woke up and wanted to see what was under the tree. Bridget finally received her Ginger (Our Generation) doll, Tor got a huge V-Tech Smart Wheels track, and Jillian got an iPod Shuffle, in addition to many other things.

We then took off for the Stephenson-Paul Christmas morning at Grandma Cindy's house with Jason, Dany, Mckenna and Lindsey. Everyone feasted on breakfast and coffee, then got down to the business of opening many more presents. It was still afternoon when it finished, so we got Tor down for a short nap at home while the girls played.

Our last stop was at Auntie Greta's with cousins Adam and Meagan, Papa Ken, Jesse, Paula, Parker and Jace for a huge Christmas dinner. The kids wore themselves out running around and playing while the adults relaxed.

Christmas Eve

 Bridget got a bling "B" for her new room.  She loves bling.

 Tor was so happy to get a Star Wars basketball and a jersey from the Kansas Jayhawks, courtesy of Cale and Ty.

 The cousins all have a lot of fun together.

 Tor and Bridget were the first ones to happily welcome Santa.  Tor has no fear and Bridget beams with Santa.

 Jillian got on Santa's lap since Rielee did.  She didn't know what she wanted when Santa asked.

But she was so happy to get the dancing Snoopy that she had on her list.

Elf Movie

Cousins Tierney, Cale, Ty and Brock came over for the annual showing of the Elf movie. We only watched little bits here and there, though, since Tor provided most of the entertainment when he brought out his lightsabers to battle his cousins, and also shooting baskets with the hoop in the family room. Tor also showed off his mad swordplay skills on the Wii when he knocked all of his cousins off the platform. The older kids did manage to grab some bites of pizza and then reminisce about their days of lightsaber battles and football/baseball competitions.

Cousin's Present Opening Night

Since cousins Andy and Karlie would not be here on Christmas Eve or Day, all of the kids got together at cousins Meagan and Adam's house last night to open their presents. It was decided to make it a civilized affair, so the kids took turns opening one present at a time. Waiting was almost more than they could stand, but they made it through with some very nice gifts. This was followed by a family dinner of ham, potatoes, green beans and rolls. Then, cousin Meagan took all of the kids (minus Tor) for a sleepover at her house, which was nearly as exciting as the presents.

This night was actually the culmination of several days worth of busy kid activities. On Sunday night, the kids came to our house for Bruno's pizza and some general run-around. Monday was a full slate of frosting Santa cookies, and ending with Teriyaki dinner. Tuesday included gingerbread train-building with Bev and gingerbread people-making with Auntie Greta before the presents.

Santa Train

 Sunday it was off to the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad to ride the steam train.  Since we were at the end of the line when they loaded, we ended up in the train car with open windows and no heat.  It was cold but everyone was dressed pretty warm and you could see everything real well.  I liked the open car better than the one with tiny windows.

 Tor got very excited when the train blew the whistle before taking off.  He loved to look out the window to see everything.

The train went into a tunnel and then stopped to see Santa.  Santa was surprised how easily Tor jumped onto his lap as many of the little ones before Tor cried.  As you can see Bridget was all over the visit with Santa, but Jillian, being 7 now, wasn't as enthusiastic.  After visiting with Santa they were thrilled to get a toy.  The girls picked out stuffed animals and Tor wanted a truck.  We all enjoyed drinks and lots of Christmas cookies.

Nutcracker Ballet

Jillian and Bridget made their annual trip to see the Nutcracker Ballet in Portland with Mommy and Daddy. Tor wasn't quite ready, so he stayed with Tierney. The girls continued to enjoy the show, talking about their favorite parts and favorite characters. Jillian was focused on watching the entire time, and Bridget did good watching for the first half, getting tired and wiggly only for the last half.

Artists

 Out of the blue Tor decided he wanted to paint today.  Bridget was downstairs playing Barbies at the time.  He didn't do too bad considering it was watercolors.  He takes instruction pretty well and didn't even get paint all over.  His first picture was his favorite color, blue, then he branched out into a couple of other colors.

 Normally Tor has the hoop positioned at the top of the door but who knows why today he wanted it down low, probably so he could dunk it numerous times.  Also he's a little under the weather so maybe he decided he didn't have to energy to shoot so far.

Bridget loves these adult coloring pages I print out from the Internet.  She colors them very meticulously.