A Party, New PJ's and New Books

On Christmas Eve we had a fun party. Guests included: Sam and Wendy Horrocks (my seester) with their 4 children Jacob, Porter, Ethan and Emma; my cousin Emily who came down from Utah for a fun visit and my cousin Kevin and his wife Becky with their children William, Katie and Lizzie. Kevin's parents, Kim and Kimberly Crookston with their sons Daryl, Brian and Nathan also joined us from California. Wowsers it is a lot of people when we all get together but we have fun.

I don't have many pictures because I really just wanted to enjoy myself and not worry about getting all the right pictures. I do wish that I had taken of the whole group though - it's on the list for next time.

Here are the Grinch twins. I can't even count how many times these two wore these same shirts this holiday season. Ben just loved having the same shirt as his dad!

Brian and Nathan kept the kids entertained while getting a work out at the same time. You guys can come back ANYTIME!!

We played the "White Elephant" game. This is the "true" game where the presents cannot be new items bought from a store. They must be used items around your house that you think someone else might enjoy. We played the rules which allow a present to be stolen 3 times before it is "retired". Here is Kevin stealing a present from someone. The older kids were confused at first but by the end they completely understood the stealing part. :) So nice of us to teach our children to steal on Christmas Eve.

After everyone went home - early of course, so that kids could get ready for bed so Santa could come...Ben and Lizzy opened their traditional Christmas Eve present of new pajamas. This year, however, I added a new tradition. A friend of mine gives her children a new Christmas book on Christmas Eve and reads it to them before they go to bed. I loved that idea so Lizzy opened our first copy of "The Night Before Christmas" and Ben opened a book entitled "Santa Claus The World's Number One Toy Expert" by Marla Frazee - the story and illustrations are adorable.

Ben and Lizzy loved their new PJ's and new books.

I feel a little guilty keeping the whole Santa secret going but I didn't even need to ask Lizzy to clean up the toy room and her bedroom after all of the cousins left and Ben and Lizzy were very eager to get to bed. I'll milk it for all it's worth as long as I can I guess. :) I could have sworn I saw sugar plums dancing in their heads as I looked at their sweet sleeping faces. Santa must love giving presents to these two...I know I do! :)