"Is it time yet?"

Our sweet Trey had a hard time waiting for Santa's arrival and then kept asking for a few days after Christmas if Santa was coming again.  It's hard for a three year old to wait for an entire year for Santa to return!

Trey was thrilled that the 24th had finally arrived and he got to put Santa on the calendar.  He knew what this meant...only one more day until Santa brought his gifts.

Excited boy!

Trey woke on the morning of Christmas Eve and asked if it was time to open gifts yet.  I told him he could open the one from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bob.  He ran out to the living room and before I had even gotten out of bed, I heard his little voice saying, "It's what I've always wanted!  It's what I've always wanted!"  I walked out to the living room and asked him, "What is it?" and he replied, "I don't know, but it's what I've always wanted!"

Trey finally got a turn with the remote control car...

I think his father likes it just as much, if not more.  

Clark family tradition is to make freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast.

Doug and Carmen brought 50 pounds of citrus with them to the northwest, 

and Trey got to help Grandpa make the juice.

Another Clark family tradition seems to be the road trip.  I don't know why or how, but it seems that every time we see Grandma and Grandpa, we end up in the car headed somewhere far away.  This Christmas Eve morning it was to the Dalles to visit Great-Grandma Julie.  We stopped in Gresham on the way back to visit family from Doug's side - Uncle Rick, Aunt Vernie, and cousins Tad, Tanya, Ryan, Melissa, and their kids.  We wish we would have had more time to visit, but we had to get back to our house so I could prepare food for Christmas Eve dinner.

They all thought this was the perfect place to take a picture.  

I disagreed because the sun was right in our eyes, 

but now that I look at the picture I can see why they didn't mind.   

Great-grandma Julie, Grandma Carmen, Grandpa Doug, and Randy 

Both Trey and Carmen fell asleep on the way to Gresham.

I have a more authentic picture of Carmen sleeping, 

but I value our relationship too much to post it on the blog.  Haha.

Later that afternoon we went to my sister's house for Christmas Eve dinner.  My dad joined us, and it was great to have so much family together.

Grandpa Gerts and Case 

Hard to believe he's almost 11 months old! 

Grandpa Doug and Randy waiting for dinner 

Family dinner 

After dinner came opening gifts which is, of course, the kids' favorite part.  The boys all got some great new toys.  Trey's new toys are so great that he doesn't want to leave the house.  Possibly ever again.

I think this gift from Sandy was meant to go in Julie's stocking, but I was too excited to see her response that I had to give it to her on Christmas Eve.  It was a picture of Julie and our mom from when Julie was little.  Julie has very few (and I mean VERY few) pictures of her alone with Mom from her childhood.  

Even though you can't see the picture close up, 

this shot of the two of them is super cute.   

Woody, I mean Trey, is super excited to be able to dress up in his gear. 

The hit of the whole Christmas season were the two Jake and the Neverland Pirate toys from Grandpa Gerts and Sanny.  It's possible that Jake and his gang is overtaking Mickey Mouse as Trey's current favorite show and toys to play with.  

So happy (even though his face doesn't show it)

Trey dictated a note to Santa, and we left it by the fireplace with cookies, carrots, and milk. Apparently, Trey wasn't super concerned about Santa getting all of his cookies as he snagged one for himself as he was setting them down.

I thought Trey would start waking at 3am asking if Santa had come yet, but luckily we made it until 6:30.

Playing with his new fire station and waiting for Grandma and Grandpa 

to get up so he could open his gifts. 

Grandma helping him open his gifts 

Hands-down the best part of this gift was the map.

Actually, Trey is sitting next to me as I blog and he has the map in his hand.  

I think he even sleeps with it.   

Playing with Grandpa Doug...I mean Grandpa Woody 

Grandma Carmen enjoyed some of the gifts too. 

After Doug and Carmen left for the airport, we went over to Kris and John's for Christmas dinner.  Trey impressed me the whole time we were there.  At one point he stood on the "stage" by the fireplace and sang three Christmas songs to six adults knowing all the words and hand gestures he had learned at preschool.  It was super cute, and I was so proud.  When the grown-ups sat down to eat, Trey settled in on the couch with his corn dog and iPad.  While some might disagree with this form of "parenting," I was impressed that he was able to entertain himself throughout our entire meal allowing for enjoyment of food, wine, and adult conversation.  I am so proud of our little boy.

We had a great holiday season with family and friends.  We got to participate in a bunch of fun holiday events with Trey, and it was really special to view the celebration of Christmas through a child's eyes.  Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas with their loved ones!