Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend filled with family and food!  We spent Christmas Eve relaxing before heading out to an early Mass that evening with my sister. 

(Michaela was so excited to see Mary!  and Joseph!  And Baby Jesus!  and Santa brought a present to Baby Jesus!)

After Mass, we headed down to my mom's grave to set up some luminarias.  I didn't take a picture, but if you've never seen a New Mexico cemetery on Christmas Eve, it is beautiful.  There are thousands (I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) of luminarias covering the entire field.  My mom's were by far the cutest! :)

Then we drove through a few local hotspots for Christmas lights and luminarias before heading home and calling it a night.


The presents after being set up on Christmas Eve by Momma & Daddy Claus

Christmas day was also very relaxing.  My dad stopped by early in the morning for some coffee and breakfast and then stuck around to see the kids open their presents once they woke up.  The kids then spent the rest of the morning playing with them.  The favorites so far have been Michaela's tricycle and Rafael's basketball hoop. 

 

Sustenance comes before all else!



The gift opening aftermath.  What a mess!



They loved that tricycle!



I mean really loved it!  Can you see Rafael's little arm sticking out in front there?

A friend stopped by for as visit during naptime and I left him playing video games with Phil while I went to visit my sister for a bit.  I ended up down the street at my Grandma's, where my sister, dad, aunts, and cousin were all hanging out.  We ate a delicious lunch of posole, tamales, turkey and all the fixings!  After that, I went back home and we returned to church for Mass again (yes 2 days in a row!  Friday was the Christmas Mass, we still had to go to the Saturday vigil Mass for our Sunday Obligation).

On Sunday, we went over to my sister's house for our big family celebration.  My brother-in-law is a firefighter and was working Christmas Eve and Day, so this was the only time to do it.  My sister (who doesn't cook) completely outdid herself cooking up posole, tamales, red chile and homemade tortillas for our Christmas feast!  It.  was.  amazing.  We spent the entire day hanging out and playing Monopoly while the kids played/napped/crafted.


Hat & mittens from Tia & Tio



Fingerpaints from Tia & Tio



I put out some craft stuff to keep the kids occupied while we played Monopoly



...and put Rafael in the baby cage...parenting at it's finest folks!

We got home way past the kid's bedtimes, but we all had fun and it was an awesome day!