Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Hooks family!  We hope your family had a wonderful and joyful Christmas!

We wrapped up our Christmas Eve by letting the girls open a gift.  Inside a big gift bag were new pajamas and sleeping bags!  The girls were very excited to put these to good use right away.  Super cute!

 By 6:30, they were begging to go to bed.  They understand the faster they get to sleep, the faster Christmas comes.  On Christmas Eve, we let the girls sleep in our room; they love this.  They both watched movies and curled up into their new sleeping bags.

 Before they could go to sleep, we had to put out carrots and water for the reindeer.

 And of course, there's cookies and milk for Santa.

 One quick family picture, and it was off to bed!

 During the night, the stockings got stuffed and everyone went to sleep.  Lily actually wasn't feeling great, so she woke up a few times during the night.  She finally crawled into our bed about 7AM.  Mia slept until about 7:30.  Then everyone was awake and ready to see what was waiting for them!

 Lily was absolutely thrilled that Santa left her a full-size keyboard!  She loves playing the piano, and since she has moved into octaves higher and lower than what's on her regular keyboard, it was time for an upgrade.  She immediately started playing lovely Christmas music for us.  She was also happy to receive a "Who Was Amadeus Mozart?" kid's biography. 

 Mia was pretty excited to see a Robots, Robots, Everywhere book and an awesome new two-wheel scooter!  When she rides, she says she is "scootering around."  She was a tad disappointed Santa didn't bring her a "miniature real car" but she is enjoying this scooter a lot.

 So I took a different approach to pictures on Christmas this year; I didn't take nearly as many pictures.  I really just wanted to be present with my family instead of constantly trying to catch a great picture.  So, here's just a few from the wonderful, laid-back morning.

Both girls have loved their new bathrobes.  They wear them all the time, not just when they get out of the bath!

 Both girls received new Adventure Bibles.  Mia couldn't wait to dive in.

 Lily was pumped about new Perler beads.  She received more beads, an idea book and several size boards.  She was so excited to start making new designs.  How awesome is this whale!

 Mia was thrilled to receive Sofia's Royal Prep Academy.  Ryan put it together right away for her, and she's been having lots of fun with it, all the characters and the neat little accessories.

 In the early afternoon, we headed over to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate with them and Wayne's family.  We had our traditional brunch menu and then moved into the living room.  Lily and Mia did a great job singing "Away In The Manger" for everyone.

 We opened lots of presents, and then most of us played a fun game called "Left, Right, Center."  Then Wayne and Dad took the kids outside to take turns on Zac's new go-cart which they loved.  Before we left for the evening, we snapped this picture of Mom and Dad with their grandkids.

 The day after Christmas we headed up to Tennessee.  We stopped for lunch in Chattanooga with the Sepulveda family which was a lot of fun.  We made it to Granny's house and had a little bit of time before the whole family got together.  We went over to Johnny Wayne and Nancy's house to celebrate.  We had a good BBQ dinner and enjoyed listening to the girls sing.  After opening presents, we were able to take a few minutes before everyone needed to get to bed; it had been an exhausting day!  I was glad to get this picture of Granny and the girls.

 Here's a picture of all the ladies in the family.

What a great way to wrap up our Christmas celebration!  Our season was filled with lots of family time celebrating the birth of our Savior.  We took a different approach this year to try to keep things a little more low-key, and it paid off.  We simply had a wonderful time.  What a Merry Christmas!