As I said in my last post, we spent a whole Saturday celebrating Christmas with each of our families. The Saturday before was spent with Jake's side and the Saturday after was spent with my side. It's so much fun splitting it up like this and not having the hustle and bustle of cramming everything into one day!
Jake's mom hosts our Smith Family Christmas every year, and we always have so much fun! Last year she had Santa make a visit and hand out the kids stockings to them and she decided to that again this year. The bigger kids love this but my two are still somewhat afraid of Santa. Jackson is more shy than afraid but did finally come around long enough to hand Santa some cookies at the end. Avery was terrified and hid hear face in Jake's shoulder for a majority of Santa's visit. Poor Avery. :-(
Poor Avery, My niece Alexis ended up taking her in the kitchen to get away from Santa and she actually fell asleep in her arms. So sweet. Hopefully next year, Avery enjoys Santa a little more.
After Santa left, the adults got to go through their stockings and then we all packed up and headed out to the St. Charles Christmas Parade. We did this last year too and it was so much fun that we decided to try it again this year and I'm so glad we did!
We got there early so ensure we got a good parking spot, so while we waited for the parade to start, we snacked on some goodies! :-)
Avery especially loved the kettle corn.
Then the parade finally started! Yay!
Scrooge!
Bob Cratchet and Tiny Tim.
The carolers are always so fun to listen to.
They always have different Santa's from around the world. It's such a cool parade.
And last but not least, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
After the parade, we stopped in New Town and had a quick (very quick since it was very chilly outside) family picture taken. My nephew Brandon was home from school and we hadn't gotten an updated family picture since Avery's been born, so we wanted to try and get a family picture while everyone was in town and together. I think they turned out nicely.
After our quick family pictures, we headed back to my Mother-in-Law's house for lunch and presents! I changed the kids into comfier clothes for the rest of the day. Avery got the cutest jammies in her stocking. They came with a matching stuffed monkey as well so I couldn't wait to see her in them. They are so stinkin cute.
The kids really loved opening presents. Jackson started out as being "Santa". In Jake's family, it's pretty special if you get to be the person who passes out the gifts, aka "Santa". Then Avery decided she'd like to try being "Santa" and it was too cute! Each time she handed a gift to someone everyone clapped for her and she just thought this was the coolest thing ever.
After the kids opened their gifts, the adults opened there's and then it was time for the adults and teenagers to play our annual game of Survivor! It's always so much fun! It's somewhat like pass the trash, but on a much much larger and more fun scale!
So that was our very busy and very fun Smith Family Christmas Celebration!
