The Lee Family: Opening Christmas Presents

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Opening Christmas Presents

We decided to open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, leaving a few for when we opened gifts with Aunt Shirl and Uncle Steve. We made up an appetizer platter, built a big fire, sat in the living room and took turns opening our presents. Sofia and Olivia easily have the most gifts, so we had Sofia start off. She picked a gift from CK and I, which ended up being the game "CandyLand." Of course, Olivia's gifts all had to be "explained" and played with by Sofia so she could demonstrate how the worked for her baby sister. It was a fun evening full of a lot of great gifts and fun toys. The best part of the evening was spending time together and watching Sofia's excitement and pleasure at each new gift.

Sofia still loves to open each gift and play with it rather than go from gift to gift. I remember last year thinking that she wouldn't enjoy each gift for very long, but am glad that she still does. So, it took quite some time to get through the gift opening process and we ended up leaving a lot for her to open when Aunt Shirl and Uncle Steve arrive. She really loved all of her new gifts, but the one thing that she kept going back to was the Thomas Train book that her Grandma and Grandpa sent. She would open a new gift and play with it for a few minutes and then pick up the Thomas Train book and pretend to read it while CK and I were opening gifts of helping Olivia with one of hers. She's still a huge train fan so it was the perfect gift!

We put Olivia to bed and then set out the milk and cookies for Santa. I'd made several different kinds of cookies the previous days to give out as gifts to neighbors and friends and we made up a little mixed cookie plate for Santa to enjoy. After setting the cookies and milk by the fireplace, Sofia was off to bed.

Papa and his gals