Christmas Eve

We tried something new this year with our celebration on Christmas Eve.  We stayed home with our own little family instead of meeting up with extended family.  We started the night with a sit down dinner of ham and shrimp.  Mia and Griffin were so excited for it to finally be Christmas Eve.  They’ve been checking out the presents under the tree and counting down the days to get to Christmas Eve so they could finally open three gifts for the wisemen tradition.  Mia was my big helper. She helped me with setting the table and bringing up all of the Christmas dishes.  We got our glasses set up for sparkling cider and eggnog and then lit the candles.  A fun Christmas Eve toast and it was time to eat.

After dinner we got together to read the last Christmas story in our book, sang Silent Night with Ryan and Mia leading the music and then read about the birth of our Savior in Luke and Matthew.  After reading about the Wisemen in the Bible and discussing the symbolism of the three gifts that they brought to baby Jesus, the kids all got to open their 3 Wisemen gifts--gold (something fun), red (something sentimental) and green (something needed).

Jack got a UofU blanket, a driver’s license ornament (for turning 16 and getting his license and a crazy speeding ticket) and UofU pajamas.

Ryan got a BYU blanket, a Willow Tree ornament--“You will always have my heart” with a gold heart (for his golden birthday this year) and BYU pajamas.

Hadley got a Hunger Games bracelet, a Willow Tree ornament--“Dance of Life” (since she started up dance again this year) and Hunger Games pajamas (she’s slightly obsessed with Hunger Games).

Morgan got Frozen and Barbie books (and then ran off to the living room to read her new books and didn’t want to open up any other gifts), Toy Story Jessie ornament and Christmas pajamas.

Griffin got loom bands to make rubberband bracelets, Ninja ornaments (since he was a ninja for Halloween) and Christmas pajamas.

Mia got a “Dorothy" mini Lalaloopsy doll, the Wizard of Oz ornaments (since she was Dorothy for Halloween) and Christmas pajamas.

Then we set up cookies and milk for Santa, watched the movie “ELF" together and then off to bed.  Ready for Christmas.