Christmas Eve

 

before the family all got there, my brothers and i watched elf.

it was really fun and shelby even got some cuddle time in with richard.

then it was time for shelby to put on her "beautiful dress" and her "cinderella shoes"

and dance with prince brett.

shelby and grandma looked cute and festive.

and thank goodness grandma is so cool because the lodi Christmas decorations were quite breakable and she lost a few to shelby. my mom didn't care one bit!

shelby loved this "mommy penguin" and it's fun to see how she has grown each year in relation to it.

she sure loved her red dress this year.

once everyone arrived, cousin jasmine went to work and never left her side. i really should have paid her for the babysitting job. though i kept pretty close the whole night too. here shelby is showing off her new kitchen to great aunt sue and great grandma peggy.

it was another great turnout at our annual Christmas eve party. though a few weeks before some of the family called to say they wouldn't make it for various reasons. then, as we got closer and they all thought about it, everyone decided they had to be there. it's tradition! and it's really fun. only one family unit of 4 was gone, which they told us back in august. even great aunt bev was there just 2 weeks after getting a pacemaker! you just don't miss Christmas eve.

the tradition of the boys looking bored all night continued. trevor was meant to be with those boys.

shelby loved playing with stockings.

though she put them on her feet and then tried to "ski"

with them which she learned from the wonder pets.

i explained that santa puts presents in the stockings

which was a pretty awesome concept for her to learn!

one of the many fun thing about having older girl cousins is that shelby got "presents" that were actually just hand-me downs that the girls are too old for now. yay for more princess stuff.

i love seeing the tree surrounded by gifts on Christmas eve. my mom gets presents for everyone who attends which means she is pretty crazy busy buying things and wrapping, but she loves it.

this year we got great bags from l.l. bean with monograms to put each family's gifts in.

we think they turned out great!

oh and look, the boys are watching sportcenter. Merry Christmas!

it was fun to catch up with everyone as always and as a first for mw, it was fun to be pregnant on Christmas eve! i think every single person there asked me what we are going to name the baby. okay, well first of all we don't know yet, and second of all, we don't tell! but it was nice that nobody touched my belly or told me i looked huge, what great family i have!!!

here are kathi and my great grandma peggy most likely chatting about family history. :) my in-laws attended Christmas eve for the first time since trevor and i got married. they also came to one right after we got engaged because it was sort of an engagement party and Christmas eve that year, way back in 2004. we were so excited to have them there this year!

dinner was delicious as always, i don't have any pictures, but we had a humongous prime rib that was cooked perfectly. it was the best prime rib i've ever had!!! mom is the best cook. we do our dinner potluck style, so sue brings her potatoes, corinne brings her green bean salad, bev brought rolls, nancy brought an appetizer, todd and trisha brought a mushroom tart appetizer (yum), mimi brought a fruit salad with marshmallows in it (shelby was thrilled), mom made jello, salad, and homemade mac&cheese, and i made a spinach and cranberry salad. then, we had dessert! there was chocolate cake, a fruit tart, brownies, the homemade peppermint oreos my mom made, and 3 baskin robbins ice cream pies. one grasshopper (mint choc chip) one peppermint, and one jamocha almond fudge in honor of my late grandma barbara. it was our first Christmas without her. and the jamocha was by far the most popular. love you grandma!

one of the great things about the lodi house are the long hallways.

shelby had so much fun being chased by her cousins.

and i think her cousins had fun too.

then, before presents, it was time for the annual kid picture.

brett didn't complain at all about being in the picture. he knows his years of forced smiles are almost over! the fact that richard didn't have to be in it this year gave him hope.

so we were only missing sophie and ethan this year.

and next Christmas baby girl will be 10 months old in this picture. wow!

the present opening is insane and we recorded with our video camera it for memories. this is the only picture i got, which is of shelby getting her strawberry shortcake gift bag! it consisted of a huge doll, books, and a dvd. i loved that show when i was shelby's age, but has anyone else watched it recently? i did and it made my ears bleed. ugh. so we have tried to stick to the books, but shelby loves it so i give in sometimes.

before reid and blair left they played one more game of ring around the rosy with shelby.

i think the kids really love having little shelby around so that they can be little too.

and here we are minutes before dragging ourselves to the car for the ride back to dublin with curtis and kathi. before we left i demanded a family picture. i totally failed this year in terms of getting group photos this year, though i wasn't the only one with a camera people! :) oh well, next year i will focus on it a little more.