Christmas Day 2010

All month Katie has been so excited about Christmas. Just about every day she would ask "Is tomorrow Christmas?" Finally we could answer "Yes!". On Christmas Eve we went to Mass and then came home to track Santa on NORAD's website. Then Katie went to sleep quicker than we expected.

The next morning Katie woke up around her normal time of 8am and waited patiently at the top of the stairs for everyone to get ready. Then she bounded down the stairs and ran to the Christmas tree. She opened everything in her stocking and then started on the presents under the tree. We expected her to be a frenzy of energy and ripping open each present in a blur. But she was very deliberate and took her time, even stopping to talk at times. After about 2 hours, she declared that she needed to take a break from opening presents. We were all happy to oblige.

We then got ready and drove out to Aunt Sue and Uncle John's to continue our Christmas festivities. They were great hosts as always. We opened more presents and Katie played with Theo. Then we had a great turkey dinner and played some more with toys. Uncle John took Katie sledding in the backyard. There wasn't much snow but it was enough to go pretty fast.

It had been six years since we last stayed home for Christmas. It was nice to not deal with travelling for a change, especially with the bad storms on the East coast. It was very nice of Nancy's Mom to visit us and we all enjoyed having her there. She also bought her first computer while she was here so we look forward to getting an email from her sometime.

Photos are below and here. I'll try to post some videos later this weekend.


The Christmas tree awaits the chaos.


Katie waits...


...and then sees all the presents!





She starts with her stocking.


Then surveys the bigger presents.


Consults with Mommy


Examines the presents with her flower-shaped magnifying glass


Then rips them open


Peter watches the action with his Daddy




And then goes back to bed, followed shortly by his Dad


Katie and Theo


Katie through the looking glass


Katie and Theo


Playing with Theo's new toy


Opening more presents


Resting for a moment (photo by Katie)


Katie wears one of her new presents from her Scranton cousins.


She adds a hat from her Grammy to the outfit.


Nancy and Peter relax by the fire.


Katie and Peter


The Three Amigos


Sledding with Uncle John


Katie says goodbye to Theo