Christmas Eve is here!

Hooray! The big night had finally arrived! In the German tradition, we celebrate and open gifts on Christmas Eve. While we all gathered in the living room as the roast went into the oven, Evie put on a delightful reenactment of the Nutcracker.

As Clara, she twirled around the room and saved the Nutcracker from the Mouse King by throwing her shoe (and nearly missing everyone's heads).

Daddy played the Nutcracker prince and danced with Evie, flying her through the air. He had some impressive pirouettes.

Daddy luckily was granted a reprieve and spent some bonding time with Ellie before getting to work on the mashed potatoes, his now signature dish.

Being Foelsches, we of course had to pose for many pictures before the gift unwrapping could commence. Here we are joined by Ba, Amy, Amy's grandparents from Maine, Muriel holding Dia and Willis, Ellie, Mommy and Evie in front, with Jerry, Becky, Karl, Opa and Dad in the back.

We call this one: the Foelsche-McDonalds in front of the fireplace, all in our Christmas whites.

The girls donned their gay apparel - matching dresses compliments of Ba. Dia must have thought her little cousins may have gotten a little close for comfort.

Ellie tried to reassure Dia by giving her a kiss (at least, we hope she is not trying to eat the baby) while an amused Evie looks on.

Then, we all sang "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" (Silent Night, Holy Night) in German with the help of some lyrics found by Uncle Karl.

This was the first year we actually made it through three stanzas because everyone could see the words, and not just have to hum along to the tune!

Time to dig in! Ellie did a great job of opening gift wrap because she wanted to eat the paper, but also enjoyed munching on her new peacock and sister's DVD.

Evie got into the action. She was very good at playing Santa and handing out gifts to everyone else, and thanking everyone as well (without even being prompted). Mommy and Daddy were pleasantly surprised!

Ah, Ellie had to take a break and rest on a half-opened present.
Oh, what a night!