Christmas in MInnesota: Day 4 . . . Christmas Eve!

Turns out that Greg and I are on the nice list!

Jillian & Mark brought flowers

Christmas Eve was wonderful and will bring me smiles forever.

Once my brother Mark, his wife, Jillian, and their two girls (Cora & Esme) had arrived, we adults opened our gifts from each other.

Greg is a ham.

There was some hilarity because my Mom's brain wasn't quite clear (due to that procedure I mentioned in my last post) and she coudn't remember who a few of the gifts were for.

She wrote, "For Mark OR Greg" on some of them and it was hilarious seeing them get opened and then distributed appropriately.  

We laughed a lot!

Great fun, if you're looking for a way to spice up your Christmas celebration!

Here is some laughter . . . 

I got tons of wonderful books!

including this one

and this one

Then Cora woke up from her nap, and we got to see her open her gifts!

But first, the Christmas story . . . at an appropriate level.

from the Christmas lesson: www.chirpcc.com/curriculum

Cora really listened and looked, and then asked me to read it again and again.

Two pretty girls in their pretty Christmas dresses!

And a little kiss from Auntie Christie

One of her presents was BEADS!  From Gamma & Gampa.

Pretty girl!

Another was this adorable sock monkey in pick checked jammies - 

with matching jammies for Cora!

She liked it!

Another gift was a roll of bubble wrap!

I have the coolest parents; I love it that they wrap up bubble wrap because Cora loves it so much!

Here is Cora, running on the bubble wrap 

(with her shoes on to make it pop louder!)

I love this photo!

Greg and I bought her this little kitty:

She has a little outfit with a little hat ("for school") and her name is Gracie Cat.

If I ever get another stuffed animal, I want one of those!

Here's her monkey and Gracie Cat (in the school dress and hat, which is reversible!), 

all dressed up to party!

 Cora got a doctor's kit, which had these adorable glasses in it - 

look how cute she is!

Ho, ho, ho!

Gamma loves little Esme!

So does Gampa!

So does Mommy:

and Papa:

And so does Auntie Christie!

 Esme is a beautiful and very sweet baby:

Then a bunch of other people showed up, and we were ready!

My Auntie Cindy

My Uncle Ron

My cousin Ryan (Ron & Cindy's oldest son)

Ryan's Wife, Jennifer

Ryan & Jennifer's three kids: Gavin, Caylie, and Eli

My cousin Jared (Ron & Cindy's youngest son)

Jared's wife, Maria

Eli is adorable and did a great job with Cora.

He loved being the "big" kid, for once!

The food was delicious!

A Tex-Mex concoction we call Chalupas.

It's a bean and pork with lovely spices mixture that cooks all day, making the house smell delightful.

Then we put it on top of Fritos and pile the vegetables, cheeses, sour cream, and salsas on top!

Yum!

I modified my choices this year (due to the whole Crohn's business and finding out more all the time about what sets things off), but I still ate some.

There was yummy punch:

And everything looked beautiful!

Of course, there were family photos!

I hope your Christmas was as magical as mine, and that you got to spend time with the people you love most.

Merry Christmas!

. . . and to all a good night!