On the First Day of Christmas

The stockings were hung with the greatest of care! A picture of the calm before the storm ...
On Christmas morning, my little ladies waited patiently at the top of the stairs until Daddy had called them down.
Yes, Santa had arrived!
And, look! Santa had left Rory and Aven a note. (Aven was only interested in getting her hands on the unfinished cookies!)

While we were going to wait till our family arrived before we opened most of the gifts ...

... Mommy let the kids open their stockings right away.

Then, one by one, Tim's family arrived across the early morning. Aven was especially excited to see ...

... Wrigley the Reindeer!

When everyone arrived, it was time to tear into the gifts!

Among the many benefits of family: plenty of help assembling gifts (including 50 new blocks for Aven).

Aven was taken by her new baby doll, and ...

... her new reading chair! She new exactly what to do with it, grabbing a book and snuggling in.

Rory's big gift from Santa was a bike, named Rosebud.

And since Aven needed some wheels of her own, Santa delivered a wagon for her riding pleasure.

The kids enjoyed a ride around the house in the new wagon ...

... and Rory took a break from the action to learn how to play her new game with Daddy.

After intermission, the grown-ups opened up their presents.

Aven got into the action by giving a "high five" to Alex when she opened her gift ...

... and a little sugar to Mommy when she opened her gift.

Aunt Jenny liked her new boots!

Rory actually did a pretty good job of savoring each of her gifts as they were opened ...

... As did Aven, although in a slightly different way.

How often have you seen Snow White riding around a house on a bike named Rosebud?

Later in the day, we celebrated with a Christmas brunch (and a few mimosas).

Much, much, much later in the day, Daddy finished assembling Rory's K'nex roller coaster!