Christmas Eve....

This is the first of two posts I'll do for Christmas. I'll do Christmas Eve and then Christmas. We started Christmas Eve by heading north to Peoria. Grandpa & Grandma Vaughn have Christmas Eve every year and each year they have Santa Claus visit their house for all the grandkids, nieces and nephews. We've attended in the past, but this year was by far more special since we have Jetta and could actually participate.

We arrived around 11:30 and Santa was due to come at noon. We took Jetta in and changed her into her Christmas dress, as we didn't have her wear it on the way up, as we figured she'd be one big wrinkle. So, once we arrived, it was time to get her changed. Once I got her dress on, it was time to put her first headband on. To my surprise she kept in on for the whole time while Santa was there and we were recording and taking pictures. Not sure how we got so lucky, but she left it alone and on. She looked absolutely adorable. I'll include pics so you can judge for yourself.

Once Santa arrived we weren't sure how she would do, but again to my surprise she did great. We asked her if she wanted to go and sit on Santa's lap and she walked up there and let him pick her up. She sat there while we all smiled and snapped pictures. When she got down she told him "bye-bye". Now it was time for Santa to read his annual Christmas tale and Jetta again headed up there and climed up on his lap and helped Santa turn the pages as he read the book. She just sat there, not scared at all. Then once the story was over, it was present time. Santa called her name and she went up, got her present and told him thank you. I think she was a real hit with Santa, as he was surprised how outgoing she was. We all watched and just enjoyed the moment. I had a few tears in my eyes, because I just couldn't believe that we were finally getting to spend our first Christmas with her.

Now it was time for Santa to leave and we asked her if she wanted to go and give Santa a hug and she did. It was so great. I'm so glad that we got to finally take part of this tradition.

With Santa gone it was time for us to exchange our gifts with Grandma and Grandpa Vaughn. Jetta helped give Grandma and Grandpa their gifts. Then it was her turn to open her gifts. She got some really great gifts and her face was full of surprise. She still doesn't fully understand the whole concept, but likes opening gifts. We made sure she said "thanks" for all of her great presents. We stayed for a bit longer and then headed over to visit Great Grandpa Jack. He too had a present for Jetta, which she loved as well. She enjoyed seeing him and watching his many fun Christmas toys.

After we visited Grandpa Jack, we headed over to see Bing....one of Jetta's friends from China. We drove over to see them and to spend some time enjoying the girls together. As always it is always alot of fun to see them together. Bing is still bigger than Jetta, but Jetta is finally getting a little taller. I'm not sure that they remember each other, but they seem to enjoy being around each other. When we came in Bing said "Jetta", which was very sweet. I'm so glad that we're able to get together with them and for the girls to stay connected.

It was finally time to head home. It was a long day, but a very special one. Jetta made out like a bandit(and we hadn't even had Christmas at home yet) and we enjoyed spending our first Christmas Eve with her and was anticipating what Christmas would be like. Once we got home, Jetta was asleep, so we put her to bed and then we got her gifts from Santa ready and set them up, anxiously waiting for Christmas morning to get here. Now it was time to go to bed and to wake up for our very first Christmas with Jetta.

So, for now, I'm gonna close, but will include some pictures from Christmas Eve. I'll try to post tomorrow about our first Christmas with Jetta and post some video so you can see just how much she enjoyed herself.