Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had planned to go to Ross's mom's house. But due to some sicknesses in Kyle's family, we ended up at Stuart's house instead. One thing that I really enjoyed about being to together this time was that during dinner Ross and his siblings shared some of their favorite Christmas memories. Some stories I had heard before, others were new to me. Some of them shared about getting a special gift and others told of favorite family traditions. It was interesting to hear the stories told from their different perspectives. After enjoying a yummy dinner of various Mexican dishes, we did our annual reenactment of the Nativity. 

Our kids didn't want to dress up at all for the event. And Leah refused to participate all together. However, the other kids wanted Corbin to be the baby Jesus again this year. But he wasn't too excited about Brian playing Joseph. So Ross stepped in to play the part. 

Here are the shepherds "abiding in the fields."

I love this picture of Alex (as the Angel) announcing the birth of the baby Jesus.

And here's the shepherds being "sore afraid."

Now they have come to see the baby Jesus. Morgan made a great star shining over Jesus and his family.

Now the wisemen have come bearing gifts.

Here's a full cast picture at the end of the Nativity. At least we were able to convince Leah to join her cousins for this picture.

After the Nativity we opened some of the presents for the family exchange. And then enjoyed a delicious dessert. Norma had made their traditional Tres Leches Cake. This cake has become a family favorite. Many of us look forward to eating it each year. So, so YUMMY!!!

Next it was time to go home and get ready for a visit from Santa Claus. Here's all of the presents and stockings laid out. Now the hard part...getting the kids to go to sleep. 

Leah wanted a picture taken of her by the tree and presents before Santa came.

And here's what it looked like after a visit from Santa.

In case you can't tell, the lights are my favorite part of a Christmas tree. I think our tree had about 1000 lights on it. It always takes hours to get them on and off the tree, but I love the beautiful glow they create. So to me it is worth the time. Although, I think it would be nice if our next tree came with lights built into it. 

I always love Christmas Eve (sometimes even more than Christmas Day). I love being able to spend that special time with family. And I think the excitement caused by the anticipation of the coming day is so fun. Christmas Day always seems to go by so fast and feels like the end of the season. But Christmas Eve feels like the last night to really soak in the fun and sacredness of the season.