What a day!

WHEW! I'm exhausted!

We had our 8th annual Christmas Eve Fiesta tonight! It seems so strange that it's been 8 years since we started the fiesta tradition.

Our family opens gifts on Christmas Eve morning. It seems early to most people, but it really works out best for us. We always have the fiesta that night, and Christmas Day is spent with other family. Opening them on the morn of Christmas Eve gives the urchins a chance to actually enjoy their gifts.

Actually, Christmas Eve day is probably my favorite part of Christmas, with everyone at home doing little projects or playing with their new toys. I spent the day cooking -- beef enchiladas and chicken tortilla soup. Skeeter spent the day playing around with the computers. He gave me a fantastic handheld computery thing, and he had to learn how to use it so he could teach me!

The urchins got a GameCube for Christmas this year, and Spyder spent the day moving between the GameCube (a Scooby Doo game) and a new Nancy Drew game that our friend Julie gave him.

Sass was in a little bit of gift overload, so she tried a little of everything. Her Diego playset, her Mary Poppins doll, her books and book/CD sets.

Guests started arriving around 6:15, and we had a house full of people by 7. We ate yummy Mexican food, played board games, and watched Spyder and a friend do experiments and magic tricks.

The last of our guests left just a few minutes ago, and now it's time to clean up and get the stockings ready for tomorrow morning!

It was a really wonderful day!