Pre-Christmas Fun

OK, I guess it's finally time to update the blog for all of our Christmas fun...this could take a while! First off, before we left for FL, we went over to the Kurby's house for a little pre-celebration of Christmas. We had a lot of fun and it was a great way to kick off the holidays! Here are all the kids ready to unwrap their gifts.

Then, we took a 6am flight and jetted to Jacksonville for the holidays. The kids were excellent on the plane and slept most of the flight, but we were still all a little weary and tired when we arrived. Luckily, Madgie and Patch had all their toys out and ready for the kids to play with and get out some of their energy. Juliette particularly loved this toy and got huge smiles on her face when she played with it...

Ben enjoyed playing pool...or rather, rolling the balls into each other and trying to get them into the pockets. We figured he wasn't quite ready for using the sticks just yet (or really, Abbey wasn't ready and if we let Ben do it, we wouldn't be able to stop her, so it was just easier to stay no sticks).

Then Uncle Chris arrived, which meant a whole new level of fun!

The next day, Aunt Ginny, Mimi, Nana and Grand-Patch arrived! The kids really enjoyed seeing their great-grandparents. This was the first time Juliette had met any of them, and unfortunately, she was a bit skeptical and took a very long time to warm up to them. But Ben and Abbey had a lot of fun playing with them and by the end, Juliette would play peekaboo with them (although she wouldn't let anybody hold her). Here is Mimi reading to Ben...

Before we knew it, it was time to go to Christmas Eve Mass. Here is the whole family dressed to impress...
And here are four generations: Mimi, Madgie (holding Abbey), me, and Juliette. The last picture we took like this was when Abbey was a baby and I was pregnant with Juliette, so we were happy to be able to update the picture!
Finally, it was time to set out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer....
Then it was time for Madgie read the kids "Twas the Night Before Christmas," which Ben was most interested in hearing, and off to bed while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads!