As is tradition, we celebrated Christmas Eve at Ellen’s house. But not before showcasing my many smiles in front of our decorated tree for the obligatory Christmas Eve photoshoot!

But gone are the days when the camera focused on just me and my snappy bowtie. This year, there was a new cutie in the picture. (My sister. She’s the one on the right. In case you’re struggling to identify which one of us is the cutie.)

We arrived at Ellen’s after mom was somewhat satisfied with her snapshots, and although I was excited to experience the holiday with Genesee, I immediately ditched her so that I could play in the basement with friends, eat holiday ham and meatballs at the big kid’s table, track Santa’s whereabouts online (He was in New Zealand), and run laps around Garrett and Morgan’s new house! Of course, I reunited with my sister once it was time to unwrap her generous gift from Ellen. Because Genesee doesn’t have gift-opening skills yet. And because I’m thoughtful like that. Just call me “Santa’s little greedy helper.”

All in all, Christmas Eve was a blast! I hated to leave such a fun family party, but we needed to return home to execute my Rudolph pajamas wardrobe change and to leave a note for Santa in case I missed him.

And as the story goes, I did miss him, while I snored away underneath fleecey-warm sheets. But luckily, he didn’t miss us…