Brent entertained the table with all his newest Army stories. The older cousins all played Wii. Brent and Matt even got into the action with Wii tennis and it was hilarious!
Maura discovered that it's a lot more fun to play with older kid toys. She loved these little things with the funny hair. GG kept Tristan busy by feeding him ice water. He loved it!
Allen family portrait: Brenda, Matt, Julie, Tristan, Chuck, Sherran and Maura and Brent below.After the brunch, we came back to Chuck and Sherran's to let the kids rest and to get the house ready for the Chamber's Christmas Eve.(Sherran's side) We had to hurry because we only had about two hours to get the house picked up and to cook all the food. Grandmother and Sherran entertained Tristan.
Then we all pitched in to cook dinner. It was actually really fun to all hang out in the kitchen and cook together. We discussed making it a tradition. Brent set the table for us. He is so intent upon his task!
Sherran and I. I promise that we didn't all plan on wearing black sweaters. It just kind of happened. I'm stirring the butternut squash risotto. If you know anything about risotto, it has to be stirred continuously and the liquid added by the half cupful until it's all cooked. In this case, it took forty minutes. It was a labor of love. Chuck and Sherran on Christmas Eve. Chuck helped out by washing every single dish we dirtied.
Grandmother had so much fun keeping Tristan occupied. Grandmother and Tristan enjoyed the day together so much!
Chuck, Tristan and I had to go out and enjoy the gorgeous sunset. Uncle Dan and Simon tried out Sherran's new trike motorcycle. I've never seen a motorcycle with three wheels before this.
Poppa and grandson.Phillip, Simon, Uncle Jack and Aunt Lisa waiting to eat.
Grandmother, Chuck, Sherran and John, almost ready to pray. Aunt Lisa, Aunt Lisa Chambers, Dylan, Uncle Dan, Allie and Matt.
FINALLY it was dinnertime! Maura wasn't sure about all the fancy food, but she did love the rolls. They were pigs-in-a-blanket! Sherran bought them by mistake and we all about busted a gut when we figured it out. Here's how the Chambers family entertains itself on Christmas Eve. We shoot at each other! This one is a blow gun that shoots marshmallows. Hilarity ensued. I can recall at least three other Christmas Eves when other projectiles have been involved.
Mommy and her boy, almost time to open presents. Nan made milkshakes for Maura while we were there to encourage her to eat more than her normal three bites of a meal. We had to get some meat back on her bones after her illness. Maura loved it! 
That's a girl that loves a chocolate milkshake! We got the kids bathed and into their jammies before presents so that they could be all ready to hop in bed to wait for Santa.
The first present of Christmas. We got an awesome puppet set and puppet theater that I was thrilled about. I'm so excited about putting on puppet shows with my kids. Tristan loved the puppets.
Allie and Aunt Lisa enjoying Christmas. Sherran gave Uncle Dan a milk bottle that came from their father's dairy. It's not one of those things that you think to save for sentimental reasons, but now they're hard to find. What a cool keepsake!
Chuck got some Harley Davidson chaps. We decided that chaps with khakis isn't the look that most motorcyclists are going for! Poppa had fun wrapping Maura up for Christmas.
Pop! Out she came, one of the best Christmas presents ever! Prior to bedtime, we got on the NORAD website which tracks Santa on Christmas Eve. We showed her where Santa had already been around the world and where he currently was. He was in Greenland and we watched the video clip. After watching it and thinking about it for a minute, Maura said, "And, where is the Island of Misfit Toys?" Later, after she was finally in bed, we kept hearing noises over the moniter. Brent went in to investigate and found her peeking out through the shutters. Brent asked what she was doing, to which she replied, "I'm looking out to see if I can see Santa!" She was one excited girl. I don't think she went to bed until at least 11:00 that night!Nan helped Maura to get her Santa plate all ready right before bedtime. We included cookies, a carrot for Ruldof(the most important thing, as far as Maura was concerned) and of course a Coke for Santa.
Setting out the goodies and dreaming of all the Christmas toys. Later on, Brent and I sneaked out and took some photos after Santa came. He ate all the cookies, drank the Coke and fed the carrot to Ruldof! He even left a note!
Everything was ready for Christmas morning! We couldn't wait!
We went with Chuck and Sherran, but they dropped us off and we walked around for quite awhile before they were able to get back to us. Despite Maura having a nearly four hour nap that day, she was suprisingly disgruntled!! Doesn't she look happy here?? We had NO ROOM for the double stroller on the way up, so Tristan ended up in the front pack. He'd rather be carried than strolled any day, so he was more than happy to strap up for a walk through the hotel.
I love the atrium that has all the hanging characters and lights. It's such a huge facility that it's hard to know where to look first! We were able to improve Maura's spirits with a cookie. With the time change we forgot that we were at the hotel right in the midst of dinnertime.
This is what Maura was most interested in out of all the decorations. She's fascinated with elves right now, due to her love of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. Mommy and Maura had a visit with Frosty the Snowman!
When Nan and Poppa arrived, Maura was so excited to see her Poppa and became Poppa's girl for the rest of the trip. Matt and Brenda met us at the hotel as well, but they were worn out from shopping and couldn't stay. I did manage to get a quick cute picture of them before they headed out.
Brent, Tristan, Chuck and Sherran. Tristan looks miserable here, but I assure you that he loves this sling! We stopped to take in the dancing fountains. Tristan was mesmorized!
What a fun family event. We loved all the Christmas trees, especially the Poinsetta tree.
Maura wanted a closer look. She loves looking at and touching all the ornaments on our tree and these giant ornaments were such a temptation. My sweet girl was just enchanted. Who would ever guess that in mere moments after this photo was snapped, she would erupt in a flood of tears and screaming. I have no idea what triggered this, but she was a mess! Brent put her in "time out" in the corner and we walked a few steps away to make it more real. We got some of the nastiest looks from people. I guess they didn't care to hear screaming in the midst of their Christmas festivities. We even had one couple who walked towards her in concern that she was lost. We quickly explained that she belonged to us and they smiled knowingly and sympathetically. After four consecutive time outs, she finally just snapped out of it and we were ready to go on our way. It's amazing how quickly these little moods come and pass.
I really really wanted her to see Santa before we left the hotel, so we headed down to that area next. She was still recovering from her ordeal, but the train went a long way towards erasing her memory of her punishment. She was so excited about it. Tristan rode with Nan. The conductor made her set him in the seat so it would be "safer." In what universe is it more safe for a seven month old to sit beside an adult rather than in their lap? But, I digress.
We were all excited for our ride. Very, VERY excited!! Maura yelled, "I'm riding the train Poppa," every time we went around! Soon after, it was time to see Santa. Our previous Santa visit was with a rather inferior Santa, so I wanted her to get to meet the real thing! She was so pumped. You have to remember, this was the 23rd and she knew Santa was coming the very next night! She ran right up to him and fairly leaped into his lap!
She told him everything she wanted for Christmas and we got some really cute pictures. We weren't supposed to be taking these, but we bought the package, so they didn't really say anything to us. Tristan couldn't get enough of that beard. I'm suprised he didn't give it a good yank! We really had a good experience at the Opryland Hotel and I hope that we make it a yearly tradition from here on out.
