Christmas Eve Day - Hayes Family

The pied piper offering a small snack before the gaggle of people arrived!

It's been a part of my families tradition, for as long as I can remember, to get together Christmas Eve with 2 of my mom's sisters and all their kids.

How this whole thing started! Credit to Melanie for the picture.

The reason we get together! Credit to Melanie for the picture.

Since "kids" turned into families of our own, the group has gotten much larger, much noisier, yet just as much fun! We don't make it every year, but when it works out, we love to catch up with and see my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousin's kids. This year it changed venue to our house. It worked beautifully to have a little extra space for the adults and kids to run around. If I count correctly, we had 20 adults and 9 kids (plus 1). It was a full house, but we fit and had a blast.

Also, for as long as I can remember, we have tacos for our meal. Love tacos! It's perfect for everyone, even those needing to watch ingredients  Over the years, tacos turned into Quesadillas (we miss you Laura!!), but since Laura wasn't with us to make them just perfectly, tacos it is back to. A lovely shot, Melanie (wink, wink). But seriously, you captured the only shot I've seen of our buffet line and stuffing our faces!

Credit to Melanie for the picture.

As it turned out, my cousin's son Oscar, sent a look alike to our Christmas celebration (the plus 1!). We got a group photo to document his travels!

Numbers of our offspring are increasing, so we drew names for the little ones, then did a gift exchange extravaganza for the adults. Opening gifts by the fireplace was so cozy!

Credit to Melanie for the picture.

  Cousins being cousins. Or rather, 2nd cousins being 2nd cousins. 

Carl opening his gift!

 The gaggle!

The newest members of the clan, figuring it out and being cute in the process!

This was the end of our fun filled day. Brianna and Carl were ready for bed. They were still a little excited, but the thought of rest calmed them down enough and they went right to sleep. Christmas Day was now just around the corner and promised to be another fabulous day, celebrating Christ's birth.

*Also a credit to my dad for all of the other pictures in this post (minus the piep piper and others noted), and many more throughout our blog. He is so awesome at keeping his camera handy and capturing moments, THEN passing them along so we can us them. THANKS DAD!