Christmas Eve...

The Hampton Family tradition for the past 10+ years has been to spend Christmas Eve at my brother's house for their annual seafood feast. I can't tell you how amazing this dinner is, and my brother and sister-in-law always do a wonderful job. Their feast always consists of Alaskan king crab legs, shrimp scampi, and some sort of yummy salad. It's always a wonderful treat to spend Christmas Eve at their house, enjoying everyone's company while scarfing down awesome food.

Dakota and I were the first to arrive. Unfortunately, Kevin couldn't make it until later because he had to work, so it was just me and my girl. Dakota got the typical greeting from their dog, Roxy, which consisted of a 1,000 licks to the face. Haha. Poor girl.

We hung out in the backyard for the first hour, so Dakota could get her koi pond fix. Aunt Boo even let her feed them! A little later, I let Dakota play over at the park with her cousin Danette and her three friends. I can't tell you how amazing my youngest niece is with Dakota. I can tell Danette really loves her, especially since she let Dakota hang out with her and her friends. This totally made Dakota's day. I can't tell you how much Dakota loves older girls. To my surprise, she was on her very best behavior and shared the nerf toys that she found littered all over the grass. I think she knew that Mommy would end all the fun she was having if she didn't behave.

The BEST cousin in the world!!

This is the ONLY thing Dakota wanted to do the entire day...hang out with the big girls!

They even let her play with the nerf guns. How cool is that?!

Eventually, the girls made there way back inside, with Dakota just a few steps behind. To her surprise, "Ga-ma" had arrived, and before I knew it they were out in the backyard looking at the fishies together. Another nice break for mommy!

Around 4 o'clock dinner was ready, so we all made our way inside to enjoy the feast. This was also the first year Dakota really got to enjoy all the good food, and she seemed to like the crab. Although, I think the dinner rolls were her favorite.

After dinner, most of us found ourselves a comfy spot to sit down and let our full tummies settle. Dakota, on the other hand, found herself a candy cane and was on cloud 9 for a good thirty minutes. Unfortunately, those thirty minutes of pure bliss came to a screeching halt as soon as Roxy came in for a lick. Then it was adios candy cane!! YUCK!

Kevin finally made it, and was able to enjoy a plate full of food that my brother was nice enough to save for him. Dakota was certainly happy to see her Daddy! Later that evening, we exchanged gifts and Dakota got to open her GIGANTIC present. It was the biggest present in the house, but that didn't intimidate her the least bit because she ran right up to it and peeled the wrapping paper right off. And boy, what a lucky girl to find this under all that wrapping paper...

I was actually kinda shocked that she was so excited since, in her eyes, it was just a gigantic box with a huge sticker of a slide slapped on the side of it. But all she kept saying as she pointed at the picture was "ba-ball, ba-ball," (aka, basketball). I can't tell you how lucky Dakota is to have such a generous Aunt and Uncle!! She absolutely LOVES this thing and repeats "gawage" several times throughout the day, so she can go play on it. What a fantastic way to end a wonderful day!!!