Christmaspalooza 2010!

Another Christmas has come and gone.  It's always such an exciting time, a happy time, but also a very busy time for me and I tend to get quite exhausted by the end of it all.  Needless to say, I am always a little happy when it's over, but also a little sad that the excitement has passed once again.

Christmas Eve:

This year we went to a Chinese restaurant in RI for Christmas Eve.  It's the same restaurant that my family always went to on Christmas Eve when I was a child, so it's fun and also nostalgic to go back.  We visited my Grandmother and she joined us for dinner, along with my brother and his family, my mother, and father and his family.  The kids were excited to get home and get to bed.  They were both out like a light which was great for us.  They did however wake up at 3:30 in the morning wanting to open gifts.  Um... no guys, that's TOO EARLY!!!  So back to sleep they went and at some point ended up in bed with Stephen and I.  I woke up at 7:00 am to see both kids and Steve sound asleep, it really was a heartwarming moment and a cherished Christmas memory for me.  They woke up minutes later and were ready to finally open the presents.  Santa once again spoiled them!

The best part of Christmas for me is seeing their expressions as they open gifts.  Especially when they open gifts from each other, it's always such a loving moment.

Once we were done with our presents it was time to play with the new toys and clean the house for round two.  We had my entire immediate family here.  It's so great to see all the cousins get to spend time together, and it's super fun to watch them grow.

I realized the other day that in my 34 years of life there has never been a Christmas that I didn't spend with my brother and sister, I think that's pretty cool.  And hopefully there will never be a Christmas that we spend apart.

So even though I was super tired and maybe a little cranky at times, it's definitely another great Christmas I will always look back on and smile about.