Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas Eve, we joined Ross's sister, Norma, and her in-law's family for a fun evening. Whitney and Matt were our gracious hosts. After a yummy ham dinner, we got a surprise visit from Santa. He showed up in style riding the a local fire engine! The kids were so surprised and Leah, especially, was excited to sit on his lap.

Here's a picture of the kids checking out their bag of treats that Santa brought them.

Brian's family has a fun Christmas Eve tradition where they come together and everyone participates in a little program. People can sing songs, recite poems, play a musical number, whatever they want. Ross and I were a bit nervous about this part because we don't feel like our talents are strong in these areas, but it turned out to be a pretty easy-going and fun activity.

Here's a picture of William showing everyone his drawing of the Nativity.

Leah took this picture of Sierra playing the piano.

Our family decided to sing "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains" (a song that has come to be a favorite for Leah, thus our family sang it a lot during the Christmas season). Here's a picture of Corbin hanging out on his daddy's lap.

Brian's parents sported these fun holiday hats and did a dance and lip sync to the song one of the hats was singing. It was really funny and the kids especially loved their hats.

Kirsten sang a little Christmas song. I think it was "Jingle Bells" but I can't remember for sure.

And Whitney and her mom sang a lovely song for us.

To end the program, Brian's dad read the account of Christ's birth from the Bible. Afterwards, Brian led us in a book exchange. He had wrapped several old books that he had collected over the years (mostly from the D.I.) and we took turns opening them. Leah loves the old books we brought home. They are old small novels. But they fit great in her little hands and because they look so old, she pretends they are her spell books.

After the program and book exchange the kids played some more and took turns trying on the musical hats. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the delicious tres leches cake that we had for dessert. Norma has been making it for the past several Christmases. It is so rich and so good!!

On the way home from Matt and Whitney's we stopped at the Millers to drop off a gift and wish them a Merry Christmas. We always enjoy spending time with our Miller family. 

After getting the kids to bed, Ross and I did some gift wrapping and prepared for a visit from Santa. After the presents from Santa were put in place, we finally went to bed. 

Here's a few pictures I snapped in the peace of the night just before going to bed. I love this part of Christmas Eve. The excitement of season has reached a peak. The work is all done and now we get to go to sleep knowing that the much anticipated Christmas morning is just hours away. It may sound funny, but I think I actually like Christmas Eve better than Christmas Day. I think the feeling of anticipation wondering about what surprises and reactions Christmas Day holds in store is so fun.