The Zyriek Zoo: Christmas Day!

When we tucked the girls into bed on Christmas Eve we asked if they could wait until 6:30 or 7:00 am to wake up and come downstairs. Caroline does not have a clock in her room (Santa brought her one!) but Anna does. They know not to come downstairs without us but Anna is so tall she can look over the balcony and see the gifts from Santa. I set my alarm (what? who does this on Christmas Day??) so that I could shower. With Christmas falling on a Sunday we were planning to attend church at 11am and I knew we had several stops in our day so wanted to be showered when the girls go up. No sooner did I get up and go in the bathroom to shower at 6am did I hear Gary say....forget the shower, the girls are up!! We could not deny them their excitement. They were ready. Caroline was not as cheerful as Anna. First of all she said her stomach hurt and secondly she said Anna told her what her big gift was. Oh well. So much for the surprise. At least our picture below keeps it real with Caroline's facial expression!!

The girls were excited and sorted through their things. They got a nice letter from Santa compliementing them on the things they were doing well and encouraging them in areas that they need a little encouragement. We know our kids are not perfect. We like to have them enjoy Christmas. We have heard about people leaving lumps of coal or having Santa not come at all, but that is not my style. A little encouragement goes a long way! As an example, last year Santa encouraged Caroline not to cut her hair anymore (she cut a huge chunk out on Christmas Eve!!) and she was scared to death about him knowing this and has stayed clear of the scissors!!!

Caroline got the bike she wanted from Santa and Anna got a Kindle e-reader. She was very excited about it and of course wanted to load the Amazon gift card she got in her stocking on the Kindle so she could read some books. Love it!! :) They had a great morning. By 7:30 or so they had been through Santa's stash and were opening gifts from us and Gary's mom. We all got dressed and headed over to my mom's house around 8:45. There we enjoyed a great home cooked breakfast and opened more gifts. The girls were still going strong. We headed to church for the 11am service which was very nice. Acoustic music, sermon about Joseph and following God's path and nice fellowship.

Headed back to Mom's after church to play with their gifts and to help mom clean up. She keeps the cleanest house I have ever seen. While our home looked like a tornado until a few days after Christmas when Gary's mom arrived, Mom's was instantly back to its clean state. We enjoyed the afternoon and dinner at Dad's house. Lots of cousins to play with and exchange gifts. We were lazy and watched the kids play. Exhausted by early evening we headed home.

Long day. Lots of family. Kids had a blast. Caroline did remember a few things she asked for that she did not get and wondered why during her bedtime routine. Lesson taught about being thankful and not greedy. Does not work too well on my 5 year old.

Merry Christmas 2011!