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| This little girl patiently waits for Christmas Eve dinner. |
After our morning at the museum, we rested and then began the preparations for our Christmas Eve celebration. I love Christmas Eve!
Mary was totally in charge of the table this year, and she did a fabulous job! She made fancy, festive place cards for each family member as well as place mats. Then she decorated the table with cozy houses and glittery shapes.
Didn't she do a wonderful job?! Mary loves to make celebrations special, and it is so fun to have her help.
Greg and I needed a few extra minutes to finish dinner preparations, so we put on the original The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. What a classic!
We had a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year (which was awesome!), so we had turkey for our Christmas Eve feast. And mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and Jell-O and mac'n'cheese and rolls and broccoli. Yum! (I don't often make "traditional" food like this, so in our house it's special and a treat.)
After dinner we moved into the living room so the kids could exchange gifts. They are all so sweet and thoughtful about their gifts for each other. Mary also always adds a really special letter:
Mary's gift to David immediately became part of the Christmas tree display.
After the children exchanged gifts, we acted out the Nativity. We didn't necessarily plan it this way, but overall it turned out to be a little less traditional this year . . .
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| David as Samuel the Lamanite. It was David and Mary who suggested we include this Book of Mormon prophet at the beginning. David was an awesome Samuel the Lamanite--he knew exactly what to say! |
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| This is Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. They were joined by a lamb and her baby. |
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| Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus. |
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| Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus are soon joined by another Baby Jesus and a lamb. |
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| Lamb, Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, and Baby Jesus. |
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| Quick costume change! Mary Christine then changed from Mary the Mother of God into a Mary the Shepherd. |
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| Mary the shepherd and her little lamb. Mary had a little lamb... |
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| Daddy also doubled as a shepherd. So these are the shepherds and their lamb. I was the angel...in shiny 100% polyester. Awesome! |
We ate our traditional Christmas Eve dessert of chocolate balls (which Mary helped me make!) and a panettone, while singing Christmas carols. Some favorites this year were "Silent Night, "Good Kind Wenceslas," "With Wandering Awe," "Joy to the World," "Deck the Halls," and "Away in a Manger."
Before bed, the kids prepared treats for Santa and the reindeer. It was so warm this year that we had to skip the fuzzy footed pajamas. Definitely not a white Christmas this year...but still lots of Christmas spirit!
We read a few of our favorite Christmas books, and the then the kids were off to bed....where just a few minutes later they heard sleigh bells outside their window!
