Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We got a wonderful invitation to a great families house to spend Christmas Eve with them and other friends who's families are far away....Shelli and their family were great hosts and all of the kids had so much fun playing together and feeling the anticipation build.

We had dinner and then the big guy stopped by to give each child a gift. Tetyana was beside herself just waiting for her name to be called so she could sit with Santa. Luke on the other hand could have done without the whole scenario! See he has never liked Santa (or any other character or mascot) and especially hates Chuck E Cheese. They scare the crap out of him even to this day! Every picture I have of Luke with Santa he is screaming. This year he sat on his lap because I made him do it with Tetyana. Tetyana on the other hand would have hugged the guy all night!

Luke figured out the big secret about Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny right after Christmas last year. I have forbid him to tell any other child. I remember the whole thing being ruined for me when I was young and I would hate for him to tell another child and ruin the magic for them. I can tell you it was a relief for him to know! He is so observant and remembers where each and every gift comes from that I was having a hard time covering up my soot covered boot tracks!

Is this not the funniest looking Santa you have ever seen? Ok, you can hardly see his face through all of that hair! The kids all knew it was one of their dads and when the kid saw his own dad as Santa he just cracked up!

We didn't leave the party until almost 11 and we still had our one gift to open at home. Each year the kids get new pj's to wear to bed on Christmas Eve. This year they got pj's with matching robes. They were so cozy and soft. Tetyana was so excited and gave me the biggest hug! Who knew a new pair of pj's would be so exciting!

After finally getting the kids in bed Drew and I set out to do our Santa work. Santa brought Tetyana her very first bike and Luke an electric scooter. We put those out in front of the tree so when the kids came out they would see those first. I wanted the gifts to be set up perfectly. I wanted Tetyana's first Christmas with us to be so special. Here are a few more pictures from Christmas morning.
It was such a fun day and the house was a wreck! We finished off a perfect day for Tetyana with a huge feast! I think she is already counting down the days until next Christmas!