Present Hunt

Opening the first present with the Surprise! in it.

Checking out the clue on the computer

Opening the ottoman to find another clue

Can you believe there's a present in the refrigerator!?

Wow!! Bean bag chairs!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Caitlin and Harrison (unbeknownst to each other) bought each other a bean bag chair. Well, Randy and I did not know how we were going to wrap these huge things! So I had the idea of having a Scavenger Hunt for them. My Granny used to do this for me when I was little. We came up with clues, and I wrapped each one up in a box. After they went to bed on Christmas Eve, Randy and I placed them around the house. Then on Christmas Morning they both opened their present from each other at the same time. It had a note in it that said, "Surprise! It's time for a Present Hunt! Go look on the computer." So they had to hike up the stairs to look at the message on the computer that told them to look in the ottoman in the living room. There was another present to unwrap. This note told them to look under their Christmas tree upstairs. They found another present with a clue that told them to look in the refrigerator. There was a present inside the refrigerator! This clue told them to look inside the big Christmas tree. Inside the tiny box was the last clue that said to look in the movie room. Caitlin and Harrison ran to the movie room and found a High School Musical bean bag chair and a Wall-E bean bag chair! I hope they had fun hunting for their presents!!

Christmas Morning

Is it time yet?!

Ready or not, here we come!

It's what I wanted--a jewelry box!

Oh my word!!!

Look at all our presents!!!!!

Randy and I were so excited about all the presents, we actually woke up before the kids! It was really a good thing because we were able to get all the cameras ready plus ourselves before they came bounding down the stairs! Actually we have a major rule in our house--before they can come down the stairs on Christmas Morning, they have to tell us they're awake on the baby monitor. Then Randy and I come upstairs and get them. We are both afraid we are going to miss the excitement on their faces when they see all their presents for the first time! We had such a good time seeing what Santa had brought. Santa is a very smart man because he brought two of several toys so that there would be no fighting!

Cookies for Santa

After Harrison and Caitlin got changed into their matching Christmas Eve pajamas, it was finally time to put out our delicious chocolate chip cookies for Santa! (Plus the carrots for the reindeer)

Christmas Eve at Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa's

All the grandkids--Daniel, Harrison, Stephanie, & Caitlin

Woo-hoo!!!! An Alabama Flag!

Whoa!!!!!! GeoTrax Airport!!!!!!!

The Happy Dance of Presents!

Every year we go to my parents (a.k.a. Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa) on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with my parents and my sister and her family. It always goes like this: open stockings, eat turkey and all the fixings, open presents, and then let the kids play while the adults talk. We always have a lot of fun especially because we are all together. The only sad note was my parents' dog, Chester, had just had throat surgery last week, so he was not feeling very well. After we left my parents' house, we went to our church's Christmas Eve service. Usually we go to the early 4:00 service, however we had to rearrange our schedule for my brother-in-law's work schedule. We were a little worried about taking Harrison to the service because he has never sat with us in the sanctuary before for an entire church service. Randy predicted it was going to be a natural disaster. We were very pleased with how well behaved both of our children were. When we went to the front to take Communion, (Harrison's first time) he looked at me, Alan (our Senior Pastor), and Alan's wife, Carla, and said, "I don't want to eat this!" It gave us all a little laugh. We then got to pass the gift of light throughout the sanctuary. It was so beautiful to see the sanctuary lit up with all the little candles. That is my favorite service!

Happy Birthday Jesus Cupcakes

Every year since Caitlin was two years old, we have made a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake on Christmas Eve. I want her to know the true meaning of the season, and I think this is one fun way to make her realize why we celebrate Christmas. Harrison helped last year with our cake when he was two, so he was excited to help this year. Well they both decided that we needed to make cupcakes this year! The only problem was that they decided on Christmas Eve morning that instead of chocolate frosted cupcakes, they wanted colored cupcakes. So off to Target we went to get white frosting in all the Christmas Eve madness! But Randy felt sorry for me, so at least I got a lunch at Jason's Deli out of it! And, of course, he helped us frost the finished product.

Cookies for Santa

We decided to go ahead and make our cookies for Santa tonight since we will be so busy on Christmas Eve. When Caitlin and Harrison went to see Santa, he made a request for chocolate chip cookies and that is what we made! I think this is the only batch of cookies we make during the entire year that they only sample one cookie each. I think they are afraid Santa will get mad at them for eating his cookies and not leave them their presents! However, I can tell you they turned out wonderfully delicious!

S'mores

After supper tonight, Randy made a roaring fire to warm us up since it was so cold outside. Whenever we have a fire, Caitlin and Harrison always ask to have s'mores. We usually tell them, "Not tonight." Well, we just happened to have the necessary supplies on hand, so we figured, "Why not? It is Christmas Vacation." Of course, the best part is eating them and getting so sticky.