twas the day before Christmas (photo heavy!)

here's my recap of Christmas Eve (in photos)...

we started off the day laying in bed and relaxing, and then made our way over to my dad's house around 11:30. I was immediately thrown into the kitchen to cook, but I managed to get lots of pictures around the house. it was my first time really doing any cooking for Christmas dinner, and I was a little stressed for a minute, but it all came out wonderfully and it was absolutely delicious! I'm actually pretty proud of myself for jumping in and cooking, even though I hadn't really prepared for it.

after we were through with dinner & the kids opened their gifts, we headed over to my aunt's house (on my mom's side) to spend time with that side of the family. we play a secret santa/white elephant/steal a gift game annually, and it was a blast this year. Sean & I brought a Shake Weight (see South Park's Shake Weight episode here), which was easily the biggest hit of the night. it was a great time as usual, and it was so nice to see family members that I really only get to see around this time of year.

when we arrived home from my aunt's house, Sean and I opened our gifts. it's a tradition for us to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. we've decided that since we're adults, we can do whatever the hell we want, and we're usually way too excited about gifts to wait to give them... so, Christmas Eve it is! the first thing I opened was the new baby, which I immediately attached to my base and started playing with. love, love, LOVE.

promise I'll have my Christmas Day pictures tomorrow, including 

LOTS of experimental pictures with the new lens!

Happy Tuesday!