Let the Holiday's begin

I can't believe that Christmas is only a few days away. December seems to always go by so fast.
We drove down to Salem, OR last Friday to do the weekend Christmas with my mom, sister and niece. The drive actually went by very fast, Natalia slept the whole way and Selena did wonderful.
Before we knew it was were at grandma's, we arrived about 9:30pm and cousin Emma was waiting at the window for Selena. The girls played until 11pm! And they still didn't want to go to sleep but the old people sure did.
Saturday marked the "Christmas Eve" at my mom's. When Selena was told that Santa was going to come that night she got all excited about getting her t-rex. I had to explain that Santa would come to her house next week and bring her t-rex but Santa would come to OR tonight and bring her something else. As confusing as it was for me to explain I]m sure she didn't get it either.
We pretty much stuck close to home, watched movies, played and drank coffee all morning. It was very low key and perfect. Friends came over about 1pm and my mom and sister cooked a turkey feast. It was delicious and we ate way to much but were very happy and tired. So after the friends left we took naps then finally headed out at 7pm to see a live nativity with a camel! The girls got to touch some of the animals and the camel but Selena was really curious about the baby Jesus. She walked right up to Mary and Joseph and they welcomed her to hold the baby. I think she was expecting a real baby and lost interest but it was sure cute anyway.
Christmas eve is when all the presents get opened so we got home at 8:30pm and started to tear through them. Of course whatever Emma got Selena wanted and whatever Selena got Emma wanted. We received WAY to many gifts as always. Thank you mom and Ariel. Some of the highlights, Selena got a Hannah Montana doll and horses which she has been playing with non-stop. I got a subscription to Star magazine, my favorite magazine for the gym and a really nice work jacket. Natalia got LOTS of soft toys and a great hiking jacket. Joe got a subscription to his favorite 4-wheeling magazine and a great t-shirt. There were a lot of homemade gifts also. Selena got a scrapbook of her adventures at grandma's house when she stayed for the week last summer. Selena got a horse stable that my sister made, super creative! My mom also found a present I got from Santa when I was 7, a radio with microphone. It was probably in my top 3 favorite Santa gifts of all time.
Santa came a brought each girl a scooter, Selena LOVES it!
To top it off, on Sunday my mom gave each girl $5 and they got to go to the Dollar Store to pick out 5 things. This was so much fun since they could only choose 5 and would have to put things back and figure out which items they wanted more.
It was a whirlwind weekend, thank you mom and Ariel for having your Christmas a few days early!
One down, two to go. This will be our first Christmas ever as a family in our own home. Joe and I have never had a Christmas at home and in the 6 years we have lived in WA this will be the first one actually spent in WA. I'm very excited to spend it at home this year especially with Selena understanding the whole Santa thing.
I just have to make it through two days of work but we get to wear jeans for the next two weeks so that makes it easier to get up in the mornings.
Merry Christmas!