The children were all snug in their beds or not!

From the time Zach and Ashley were old enough to know what Christmas was really all about, which actually meant Ashley probably didn't but Zach did, so the tradition started. On Christmas Eve, once they had taken their baths and put on their Christmas PJ's, they would sleep in the same room. They were so excited and would often talk and giggle...way too late for their parent's liking...but at the same time it was so sweet to hear! We had a rule about Christmas morning, it was as follows. When they woke up, first it had to be morning (morning might be 5 AM but that counted), they would come to our room, where we would all wake up and wait. Wait for what seemed like an eternity for the kids but Larry would go start the coffee, light the fire and often take out a load of trash! (This is the part the kids remember, but sometimes Santa had to leave trash for us to dispose of, after all Santa can't have all that trash in his sleigh!) Then I would go to the end of our hallway, camera in hand, make a huge gasp at what I saw Santa had left under the tree and then tell them they could come see! They would come running down the hallway together! Every year, we did it the same way. So, what do you think we did the year that Meg joined our family? THE SAME WAY!!!! The all slept in the same room. It was so sweet! Meg just joined right in as if it was her very own tradition! She loves Christmas so she was all about carrying on the traditions! The year before Ashley got married, it was Zach, Meg, Ashley and Owen in the bedroom. I think at this point it was getting a little crowded and no one got a lot of sleep! :) So, now each family stays in their own bedroom...but they all meet up by our room before they come down the hall together! I had hoped to find a picture of them running down the hall together...but that would require me digging through a bunch of boxes and Mrs. Claus just doesn't have the time right now! :)