Christmas Day

Christmas morning arrived bright and early (though not as early as we expected), with Justin playing quietly in his room. His soft words woke Jeff and me up, and we listened in delight to the elaborate story unfolding in the room next door. I remarked in a whisper that I thought Justin had forgotten that it was Christmas morning. A few short moments later, Norah appeared in our doorway, disheveled but wide eyed, with a huge smile across her face. She waved to us, then turned to Justin and said, "Justin come on - lets go check Santa!" We heard toys crash to the ground and observed two blurs flash past our bedroom as they ran off to the living room to see what Santa had left for them.

Squeals of delight and excitement could be heard through the house as they went through their stockings and found Santa's cookie gone from the plate. Jeff made coffee, I made tea, and we started opening presents. The kids were great about taking turns and we all enjoyed the quiet family time together.

After the presents were opened and toys freed from their packages, we got ready and headed over to the Uncles' apartment. Grandma, Papa, Aunt Lyss, and Uncles Phillip, Russell, Patrick and Matthew were there, ready to continue the festivities with lots of delicious food to eat, and more presents to open. Best of all was the time spent in the company of loved ones (along with the occasional nap, and dodging of nerf discs).