Christmas Eve

A joyful Christmas Eve cousin nativity!  Luke as the innkeeper, Evan as Joseph, David as the shepherd, Mary as Mary, Eliza as the angel, and Baby Sara as Baby Jesus.

It was a happy Christmas Eve.

David and Mary, disappointed that we don't have an electric train under our Christmas tree, spent the morning arranging the wooden train tracks in, through, under, over, and around the presents.  Sara, of course, joined the fun.  It was truly a labor of love.  And magical to watch my children work together.

In continuing with the train theme, we visited the holiday train display at the Cincinnati History Museum in the old Union Terminal.

It was so cold, brrrrrr, that we didn't take any pictures outside the terminal.  But we saw the building in miniature twice--as part of the history of Cincinnati model (very cool exhibit!) and also in Lego!

As expected, the train display was festive but crowded.  We especially enjoyed the rest of museum, which was surprisingly interesting.  We look forward to returning when we have more time.

It was the perfect way to spend the morning.

Later that afternoon, when the kids returned from playing with neighborhood friends, the siblings exchanged their Christmas gifts.  Greg and I also had Christmas Eve books for all of the kids to open.  These were Sara's first Christmas presents, so, of course, this became all about Sara!  (Mary finished that blanket, and David thoughtfully picked out some bath toys for Sara because we have none.)

But I must add that David and Mary got each other very thoughtful presents.  They have really begun to understand gift-giving.  They have been very thoughtful about gifts this year.  Now that the desire and understanding has emerged, I definitely need to nurture that in them!

It was fun to open these thoughtful presents apart of the chaos of Christmas morning.

That evening Greg's brother Chris and family came over for a Christmas Eve celebration.  It was wonderful!  We shared a yummy ham dinner, exchanged gifts, acted out the nativity, enjoyed the traditional family dessert, and sang Christmas carols.  It was such a great evening.  I am so grateful they came over and we could spend that time together.  (A quick note:  The dress Sara was wearing was one that Eliza used to wear!  And Mary too.)  They are such a good family.

Wow.  It was a really great evening.


After the cousins went home, it was time to get ready for the big day!

David and Mary hurried to bed.  Mary was determined to be asleep well before Santa's arrival, and David was quick to turn off his light as soon as he heard the sleigh bells.

Then it was time to get to work.

And everything was ready.

Christmas cheer here and there

With Greg's training in Texas the week before Christmas and all the preparations for his deployment, the Christmas season felt a little rushed and overwhelming this year.  For simplicity, we made the decision to cut back on a number of things, or cut them out entirely.

Whenever people say they simplify their lives, I wonder what exactly they mean.  What do they really cut out?  In case you wonder the same thing, I will give you some examples.  For instance:  We didn't get out all of our Christmas decorations (which I regretted come Christmas Eve).  We simplified the advent calendar (which was fine for this year, but we lost some of the reverence and focus on Christ).  We skipped the church Christmas party completely, and I did not attend the kids' class parties at school.  No Christmas cards (this hurts).  We did not watch very many Christmas shows or movies.  We only put up one strand of lights outside (which the kids thought was lame but better than nothing).  In some ways we scaled back on gift-giving, like skipping new pajamas and, I hate to admit it, not giving those small thoughtful gifts to people like Primary teachers and the school bus driver.  I did basically no baking.  Besides buying coats for a collection at school, we did no extra service or special charitable acts.

But it's not as if we did nothing.  There was Christmas cheer in our lives.  And some Christmas busyness is especially important this year--to distract us Greg's departure next week.  While we cut out some things, I am grateful for what remained on the calendar and in our day-to-day December lives.  Greg, David, and Mary went to the high school production of A Christmas Carol.  I took David, Mary, cousin Eliza, and the two kids next door to a production of The Nutcracker.  (It was delightful!)  We delivered simple neighbor gifts.  We read in the Book of Mormon about the birth of Christ from the perspective of His followers on this continent.  We have been listening to John Denver and The Muppets  ("five goooooolden rings, ba-da-bum-bum!").  David and Mary have been learning Christmas songs on the piano.  We even managed to decorate Christmas cookies.  It's been a wonderful Christmas.  You really don't have to do every little thing to feel the warmth of Christmas.  This year was enough.  More than enough.

I have pictures of a few other ways that Christmas cheer has filled the season...

David's Christmas concert

If I look at my pictures of David's music concerts through the years, I think in most of them what you see is the back of his head!  What can I say?  He's a social kid.

David was so excited about playing an instrument in the concert.

Christmas crafting

David drew this at church one day.  It's very sweet.

That same Sunday, Mary made this.  It's not technically Christmas-y, I guess.  But I had to include it.

Mary decided to make a blanket for Sara this year for Christmas.  Isn't that sweet?

Making things for loved ones is definitely  part of the holiday season.

After a yummy, whine-free dinner at Macaroni Grill we drove through the lights in Sharon Woods.  Yes, that is a baby head.  Since we were going 2 miles per hour, I put Sara on my lap and it was like all her Christmas dreams had come true.

We have lit candles and sung songs.  Favorite Christmas carols this year have been "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing," "Christmas Bells," "Christmas Is Coming," "Deck the Halls" and "O Come All Ye Faithful"

The best part about this Christmas?  It's Sara's first!

I love my family.  I am grateful for a happy, cheerful, delightful Christmas season.