Christmas Eve 2013

Christmas this year started at Papa and Mima Coopers' house.

Fortunately, we were all off on Christmas Eve, so we kicked things off early.

This little love is attached to her daddy.

We gave Owen the choice between eating lunch and opening presents first.

Can you guess what he chose?!

I think he waited a whole 3 minutes after getting to their house to open presents.

Papa + Presents = Heaven

Nothing timid about this present opener.

Amelia didn't quite get the present opening piece, and she's a big fan of books,

so she found one in a box and plopped on to Mima's lap.

Starting to get the hang of this present 'thing'.

Ok, I know I really need to work on this pacifier issue....

Tearing tissue paper out of bags was easy!

Owen's favorite question: "Is there another one for me?".

He was pretty good about waiting when asked,

but he was literally just flipping his body around with excitement.

YES! Hot Wheels. (His fave).

New Warm clothes. Perfect because on Monday it will be a high of 4!

Most toddlers just love sitting on the boxes!

In this picture, my dad was making fun of my mom and I loving nice paper =)

Here she goes! Still has that paci in. Turns out this gift, a 'Wheels on the Bus' book was a huge hit! It's been a favorite since Christmas Eve.

Papa and O playing play doh.

Owen, trying to convince his type A mother that he should mix the colors.

This drives me absolutely CRAZY!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Looks like St. Nicholas had already been there.

And he brought a chocolate race car!

Post nap snuggles on the couch....

...and a magical story time. I love the way the light illuminates their faces.

Millie loves play doh, too. This is one thing the kids actually play well together!

You know what I love? HER CHEEKS!

Hot Wheels race car track #1. This was what O wanted from every gift giver. AND, I think he got one from every gift giver. #spoiledbutnotrottenyet

Millie had to watch over Papa to make sure he was putting those decals on straight. She may have even attempted to lend a hand or two.

A true highlight of Christmas Eve was that we got bonus time with Uncle Ryan. He got the day off at the last minute, and he came to play in the afternoon. And play he did. We loooove our uncle Ryan. It's also quite difficult to tap in to any of his precious time off, so this was a Christmas present for me!

Hot Wheels tracks #2 from Uncle Ryan.

Owen's really getting in to figuring out this fancy set.

He played till he dropped.

 

That afternoon we also had a nice visit with Great Uncle Jay, Great Aunt Sharon (my mom's bro & sis-in-law), and 2/3 of their daughters, Kelley play cars (Owen's name for her), and Kayla. I was over picture taking by this point in the day. Sorry! We had a nice visit for a few hours and then it was time to get the kiddies home. They only lasted until about 5:30, but it had been a long, full day up to that point. We were going to attempt the 5:00 church service, but we could tell Millie just needed to be home, so we put the kids to bed and Papa came and sat on our couch so we could go to the 8:00 service. It was amazing, of course.

We talked about the real meaning of Christmas, and how Jesus' birth turned the world upside down. Thank you, God, for the most precious gift, your Son.

 

^{Luke 1: 46-55}

And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”