Christmas Eve 2016

I'm finally beginning to drift back into the daily routine after a week long holiday break. Christmas Eve already feels like forever ago but that might be because our Christmas decorations have already been packed up and put away for another year, ready to celebrate New Year's Eve tomorrow! We sure had a great Christmas Eve though. We traveled to Meridian to spend the holiday with my family and arrived in the outer limits of Boise just as a snow storm hit. We were so thankful to have clear roads the whole way down because we've driven in so much worse around Christmas time before. Before jumping into the Christmas Eve festivities I just had to note that a couple hours after getting into town it was Liam's nap time. We went and laid him down in his usual pack n' play and about 10 minutes later heard his little voice go, "Uh Oh!" and it sounded far closer than it should coming from a closed door bedroom. That little stinker had finally figured out how to climb out of a pack n' play and open the door handle! All the while carrying a gigantic humidifier full of water (we were using it because he had a cold while we were there) and ended up dropping the whole thing in the hallway and spilling water everywhere. Nic turns to me and goes, "Well that's a game changer!" haha A hilarious start to our trip, for sure! 

Anyway, back to Christmas Eve! We carried on our tradition from last year (this time with more family though!) and went sledding! With Liam's cold, he only lasted about 20 minutes but we all had so much fun!

His uncle teaching him wild and crazy things like uncles do ... :)

I have some great videos from our time sledding that I'll share in a video of our whole trip soon but seriously, it was a blast! At one point we had my mom, brother, and I all stacked on top of each other for a sled ride. haha 

Because we had plans with my dad's side of the family for brunch on Christmas morning, we didn't have a lot of time so we opened most of our presents on Christmas Eve night. We had a traditional ham, turkey, and potatoes dinner first. I wanted to carry on my childhood tradition of opening new jammies and a book that night too and Liam wanted to wear them right away. It must have something to do with the fact that they were covered in tractors. ;) I got Nic a new pair of boots for Christmas and Liam wanted to try them on ...

My mom really wanted snow shoes and I just loved her reaction as she opened them from us ...

My mom is adorable!

Rock on, Santa!

Liam was so much fun to watch as he opened each gift this year. My mom gave him a present to open the first night we got there (which was a book) and he immediately after opening it he turned to her and said, "MORE?!" haha So when it came time to open a whole bunch he was very excited. I love his little facial expressions in a lot of these pictures ...

Most of the time after opening a gift he would get really distracted and want to just play with what he opened so it definitely took a while. 

Sticking tape to the bottom of his foot and signing the word "more". haha

Cutest reactions to his gifts ...

We called it a "White Coat Christmas" because my brother got our mom and I coats for Christmas. Twinning!

We all were so spoiled and got so many nice things from each other! The adults got prints, home decor, and clothes. Liam got a new toaster and food for his kitchen, a lion towel, some duplo trucks, and a wiggle car!

Right before bed Liam set out cookies for Santa (forgot the milk this year). Liam did not quite grasp the concepts and grabbed that tree cookie right off of Santa's plate and took a big bite out of it. haha Oops!

One of my absolute favorite moments of Christmas Eve ... SANTA CAME!!!

And as you can see, brought a special little boy his very own train set and table! More to come from Christmas Day! XO