Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent getting our final preparations for the big day! Luckily, we were all feeling GREAT (we had a NASTY bug earlier in the week and I will spare the details)! John went ice fishing in the morning, and the kids and I delivered some final treats to friends. We got some baking done, cleaned the house, wrapped a couple of little things, and went grocery shopping. We enjoyed turkey noodle soup and bread sticks for dinner, then headed upstairs to open just ONE gift. The kids all got matching snowman PJ's, John got camo PJ's and I got cozy flannel ones. The kids convinced dad to let them open one more present, then they exchanged gifts between each other. We drew names this year, Cole and Say got each other and Mads and Drew got each other. They were VERY happy with their gifts! John and I each opened just one more too! I was impressed that there were still gifts under the tree when we finished.
We headed to Willard to see the lights, which turned into a longer experience than we planned because we forgot to bring cash and had to got into Brigham to get some (a story in and of itself!). The kids loved seeing the lights and staying warm in the car. Cole "drove" us through them. It was a lot of fun.
We got home and wrote notes to Santa to make sure he knew how to get in the house, Cole even drew him a map. We left cookies and chocolate milk (Madi says that is Santa's favorite), threw out some reindeer food and headed to bed. Saylee has been promising Madi that she could sleep IN her bed with her on Christmas Eve and they were so excited! They couldn't stop hugging each other and telling each other that they loved each other. Cole slept on the bottom bunk. It was cute to hear them talking and laughing in there. They were VERY excited, but also very tired. They were out quickly and ready for the big day...

Dinner time!

Mmmmmm!

The tree before. (Notice Popotchi the elf at the top of the tree. He came again this year and the kids loved it. They love to find where he is hiding each day. He brought the boys a Lego Star Wars advent calendar and the girls a Polly Pocket one, which they had a ton of fun with. He's a great elf!)

PJ'S!

Happy kids!

Cute kids!

So excited!

Happy!

Couldn't stop moving! He got Swiss Family Robinson.

Roo figured out the gift thing quick!

His gift from Mads.

Giving a gift to Mads.

She was SOOO happy!

Cole's gift to Say.

Loves!

Saylee's gift to Cole.

John's surprise.

My WARM new coat!

Cole driving with dad and Madi.

Say.

Roo climbing out the window.

Reindeer food!

The sleepover!

Madi's note to Santa!

Saylee's directions to Santa!

Cole's map to Santa!