Christmas Dinner at Ben & Kelly's

Kelly had a beautiful table set. The ham was wonderful (Jack had about 7 helpings!) and everything was really delicious. Afterward we exchanged gifts.

Pita Pockets for Dinner

Christmas Morning

AnneMarie woke up about 7 a.m. To buy some time until brother woke up, she first gave Molly her gifts (which were very well received). They she opened her stocking, and Mom & Dad opened their stockings. Then Jack woke up and she got to help him with his, although he was more interested in everything that had already come out of her stocking. Overall, it was a great morning, everyone liked their presents and Nathan made delicious French toast for breakfast.

Jack's favorite present was a package of smiley face stickers that came out of his stocking. He stopped the entire present opening process in order to put an entire sheet of stickers on his pajamas. After much convincing, he did share one sticker with his sister.

AnneMarie's most requested gift was the movie "The Last Unicorn."

Jack opening his big gift from Santa, a Little People castle, that came with a king, queen and dragon.

AnneMarie's main gift from Santa was a "real friends kitty cat" that meows and purrs and makes all sort of annoying sounds.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Aunt Aleigh came over to help us decorate the Christmas tree.

New ornaments from Grandma & Papa.

Helping Dad put the star on top.

Three Clean Kids at Bedtime

The love of his life ...

Luminaria Tour

We went downtown on Christmas Eve to see the luminarias. They were beautiful, and there were so many of them! There was also a balloon glow at a park that bordered the tour. The kids were less than impressed. I don't think Jack could really see them, since they are almost all on the ground, and AnneMarie got bored quickly. But Nathan & I really enjoyed the tour.

Pictures with Santa

I took the kids to get their pictures made with Santa this morning. The mall opened at 9 a.m., we got there about 9:20. Who should we see strolling through the parking lot but Santa, minus the red suit. The girls recognized Santa right away because they visited him just three days ago with their preschool, and his beard is real. They decided he was coming to work and didn't have his outfit on yet. We ran another errand and came back at 10, just as Santa was coming on duty.

The River of Lights

We went to see The River of Lights at the Albuquerque BioPark tonight. Our friend was singing with her choir, they sounded wonderful. They took requests and AnneMarie asked them to sing "Santa Baby" which they didn't know well enough, so her second choice was "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" which they sang a very energetic version of. It was pretty cold (about 40 degrees), but the kids were bundled up and had hot chocolate. There were so many beautiful lights, but they don't photograph very well, so I have included only a few pictures.