Christmas Day!

Christmas morning dawned bright and early at our house, just the way I like it. Christmas morning doesn't feel like Christmas morning unless it's still dark outside while you open presents. I snuck in and took a picture of how pretty everything looked after Santa had visited.

I love how magical it all looks. There's a special reverence in the room when the kids first enter and take everything in, nearly bursting with anticipation. It doesn't take long for that reverence to transform into giddy excitement though. Before long we were in the thick of present sorting and opening.

The kids all got a wide variety of toys and books from both us and Santa, and even from each other. They were all very gracious, and we heard thank you many times, which always feels good as a parent. The biggest surprise for all of them was when they each discovered they had a similarly shaped package, wrapped in the same kind of paper. Dany was the first to unwrap hers.

It didn't take long for the other kids to catch on, although for some reason, Rory looks mad in her picture.

They each got their own Kindle Fire, and it was fun to see how excited they were. I will say it was a bit sad that they weren't as interested in putting their Legos together as they normally would be, thanks to this new toy. We expected that going into it though. Teag and I each got a lot of stuff we wanted, but mostly it was just fun to watch our kids faces. Christmas with kids is the best.

After present opening, Teag and I made French Toast for breakfast, then we started getting ready for lunch with the Rogers. I don't have many pictures of that, but we did have a pretty fun time with everyone. It was incredibly loud, and the kids were super wound up, but there were some really nice moments, like this one with Grandpa and Sam.

I also have this picture that's actually from New Years Eve, but just thought I'd throw it in here because it's super cute. Twins!

Both Teag and I commented that Christmas felt a little rushed this year. It felt like we were checking off all the appropriate boxes, but it often felt hard to actually feel much of the "Christmas Spirit". Which isn't to say it was a bad Christmas, nothing of the sort. Perhaps we just need to be better at slowing down and enjoying the moment.