To minimize the travel, drama and hissy fits on Christmas morning, we continue the tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve with our parents and siblings. We start the day at Nana & Cookie’s with them, Uncle Bull and Isabella. Nana always cooks up a feast of ham, dressing, homemade macaroni & cheese and lots more. Ella’s favorite {and mine, too} is the endless peanut butter fudge, which we got lots of to bring home and share!
Ella & Isabella had such a good time playing together. They were all over the house, eating and opening a mass of presents. For the first Christmas since Ella was born, we managed to get a picture of her with Nana & Cookie. I don’t know we have such a hard time with that, but we made a special point to get some group photos this year!
It took Ella & Isabella both FOREVER to open their gifts, but we enjoyed watching the long process. Bella is still little and Ella really struggles with the tape. I had to unseal everything for her and then she could pull the paper off. We got lots of great things for Christmas! Ella got a LeapFrog computer console that connects to the television and several games. She got a trunk of dress-up clothes with pom-poms that she was thrilled with. She got a holiday Barbie, clothes and big girl boots. There was MUCH more, but how can I list it all?
One of Ella’s favorite toys last year was a drum set that I bought while in NYC. She loved it and we still bang around on it every once in awhile. I was thrilled to find it at Target this year for Isabella and she never put it down. She walked around with shakers and drumsticks all afternoon. It was so much fun watching her enjoy it. I hope her parents don’t kill me for buying such a noisy toy!
That is a picture of Sweet Daddy trying on Uncle Bull’s Bear hat. Doesn’t he look silly? Ella has a death grip on some of her stocking stuffers – Barbie bubble bath and lip gloss. What girl wouldn’t be thrilled with that? The big kids got lots of great presents, too. Josh got some Alabama gear and memorabilia, along with an Academy Sports gift card and movies. I got an Alabama shirt {since I was the only one in my family without one}, a Latta family cookbook that is awesome, and a new hat/gloves/scarf set. As a family we also got front row circus tickets that we are all VERY excited about!!
