Christmas Eve

The family enjoying a Swedish lunch

Pax opening...

his John Deere tractor!

This was the only thing that made him laugh! Poor Baby!!


The family from left to right: Brad, Pops, Amy, Grandma, Uncle Adam, Great Aunt Cindy, Great Uncle Bruce, Gigima, Pax, Cousins Jessica and Eric

Pax and Gigima

The Dobbs Family

Gigima and the two sisters

Pax and Santa

Grandma opening her calendar with Paxton's help

Paxton's favorite gift!!! Look at that smile!

Christmas Eve was a day spent at the Herendeen's with all the relatives. My Aunt Cindy, Uncle Bruce, and Grandma came from Charleston, South Carolina. My cousin Eric and his wife, Jessica, came from Belleville, Illinois. This was the first time that Eric and Jess had gotten to meet Paxton. We ate a Swedish lunch and dinner. Paxton is becoming such a good Swede; he ate Tunnbroed (Swedish Flatbread made of Barley) and more pepparkakor (Swedish cookies), and loved them both! He also tried a piece of a grape, but didn't seem to like that.

After we ate dinner, we headed to the Christmas Eve service. Pax had not been feeling well at all and had been more fussy than usual. He had a fever that spiked as high as 102.5, and that's when we called the doctor's office. They said to continue giving him Motrin for his fever (we had been doing this since Tuesday night). We were blaming this fever on teething, because I can see his top two front teeth coming in. We took him to the church nursery anyway. However, about 3 minutes into the service, they paged us and we had to go get him. They had taken his temperature and he again had a fever. Brad missed the entire service walking around trying to help him cool down because it wasn't time for more Motrin. After the service, we talked with his pediatrician, and she suggested we take him to the doctor on Friday. Until then, we would have to alternate Motrin and Tylenol. Poor Baby!! His cheeks were so hot, and you could just tell he didn't feel well. Plus, he was whiny, too.

It is a Swedish tradition that Santa physically visits the family on Christmas Eve. So, after the service, Paxton got to greet Santa and help him pass out presents. He didn't like Santa at all this time! He did much better with the Santa at the mall. The above picture is the only decent one of he and Santa.

Then we opened presents from the family. For the past several years, we have decided to forego giving gifts to EVERYONE, and drawing names to donate to a charity in that person's name. I drew Dad's name this year, and donated to Camp Sunshine in his name. This camp is for cancer patients, and a student from my class went there this past summer. Grandma had my name and donated to a charity in Charleston that helps several smaller charities. I love this tradition that we do each year!

We still do gifts for our immediate family, though, and Paxton sure did rack up!! He really enjoyed opening presents and did well, despite having a low fever still (that's why you see him lose his clothes in the end). He seemed to care more about the paper than the present itself. He got a farm playset from his Gigima, a baseball tee that's just his size from his Great Aunt Cindy , an adorable outfit from cousin Eric and Jess, and an array of gifts from Grandma and Pops. His favorite gift, by far, was his wagon! He wasn't too sure about it at first, but once we started moving, he loved it! He also liked his John Deere tractor and Leap Frog toy. Grandma and Pops had actually been giving him a present a day for the days leading up to Christmas; kind of like the 12 days of Christmas! Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful presents!!!