T'was the night after...

Christmas morning, 7 am... Silas discovered the presents by (and in) the tree. We waited till 8 am to remove the gate and let him open a few presents, and find the animals in the tree. Grandma and Papa watched him via video chat the whole time he was opening gifts and we all enjoyed Christmas morning together, despite the 2000 miles separating us.

Silas helped his dad empty his stocking. Thanks, Santa Shannon, for filling our stockings on xmas eve!

Silas got a cool kazoo.

And a pig! (adorable outfit courtesy of Grandma G, by the way). We talked to Grandma G and family in the afternoon and were able to wish everyone a merry Christmas.

Then, it was on to Patrick and Shannon's house for a wonderful evening with friends. Silas enjoyed hanging out with Ellen and Carl's dog Al, in particular. There were two other kids there as well, so it was quite a kid-powered time.


From today:
Silas loves the animals so much, he has to get right in the corral with them!


And from Christmas eve, a pic I meant to post with the others on the 24th, but forgot:
Silas calls the popcorn garland "cake and berries" because the popcorn looks like the rice cakes he loves so much. Needless to say, right after this picture was taken, I rushed to remove the garland from him before it was crushed to pieces and/or eaten.

I planned on taking down the tree today, but it looks so cheerful in the corner, we decided to wait one more night. It is a living tree, though, so we can't keep it inside too long, for its own sake.

This Christmas was so peaceful, joyful and all-around enjoyable (and we had electricity the entire day!). I could not have asked for a better day. We try to keep our celebrations and decorations simple, and the gifts few in order to create a stress-free holiday. It seems as though we succeeded this year. Plus, seeing the day through my son's eyes reawakened many happy memories of Christmases past. I hope your holiday celebrations, whatever they may be, were every bit as lovely!