... was wonderful ...
In Pictures ... since I'm all worded out right now :).
Christmas Eve was, as I said, wonderful. It started out with a blanket of snow ... enough that Matt had to shovel and Ethan went out to play while I snapped photos. Ethan got to join in a little snow fighting with his favorite neighbor girls too ;). While Ethan and I warmed up, Matt ran out for a quick haircut (very short, but I love it) and grabbed Krispy Kreme doughnuts for us and our neighbors. A sweet treat and a perfect start to the day. I busied myself getting bags packed for overnight at my parents, presents packed, cinnamon rolls prepped, etc. Then had a nice long hot shower before we headed over to Mike & Julie's for our annual Christmas Eve with Matt's family. We munched on appetizers and let Ethan and Katie (the only two wee ones) open their presents and then played BINGO (very cute, thank you Julie!) before heading to our candlelight service at church. Who knew this would be so funny ... After a few songs and special music, Pastor John called all the children to the stage for a reading of a Christmas story. As he began to ask questions like, what animals were there? We immediately heard Ethan chime up with a cow and a donkey. When Pastor made the mistake of saying, maybe a donkey, Ethan said adamantly, yes there was a donkey. And thus the story went, Ethan jumping ahead and adding in with:
"And Joseph too" (since Pastor had failed to mention him thus far)
"And the inn keeper said, there's no rooms, but you can stay in the stable" (this before Pastor could read this part)
And then as the story finished, Ethan piped up with "What now Pastor John?"
Oh my, I was laughing so hard I was crying. I'm so glad we went. Ethan really understood the meaning of Christmas and the entire story around Jesus' birth.
After the service, we went back to Mike & Julie's for the adults to exchange gifts. We were to each bring a $20 gift and then we exchanged them "white elephant style." It was so fun. My gift was an apron I had made and a subscription to a magazine. Matt's was a SB card. I ended up with movie tickets and Matt ended up with a Leatherman Squirt. Very fun, I hope we do it again next year.
Then we made the hour drive to my parents where we quickly put out cookies and milk, sprinkled reindeer food and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (loved doing this with Mom and Summer as this has been a tradition in our family since I can remember). We stayed up awhile chatting before heading to bed a little before midnight.
To be continued on the Christmas Day post ;).
{edited to add journaling}
Christmas Eve was, as I said, wonderful. It started out with a blanket of snow ... enough that Matt had to shovel and Ethan went out to play while I snapped photos. Ethan got to join in a little snow fighting with his favorite neighbor girls too ;). While Ethan and I warmed up, Matt ran out for a quick haircut (very short, but I love it) and grabbed Krispy Kreme doughnuts for us and our neighbors. A sweet treat and a perfect start to the day. I busied myself getting bags packed for overnight at my parents, presents packed, cinnamon rolls prepped, etc. Then had a nice long hot shower before we headed over to Mike & Julie's for our annual Christmas Eve with Matt's family. We munched on appetizers and let Ethan and Katie (the only two wee ones) open their presents and then played BINGO (very cute, thank you Julie!) before heading to our candlelight service at church. Who knew this would be so funny ... After a few songs and special music, Pastor John called all the children to the stage for a reading of a Christmas story. As he began to ask questions like, what animals were there? We immediately heard Ethan chime up with a cow and a donkey. When Pastor made the mistake of saying, maybe a donkey, Ethan said adamantly, yes there was a donkey. And thus the story went, Ethan jumping ahead and adding in with:
"And Joseph too" (since Pastor had failed to mention him thus far)
"And the inn keeper said, there's no rooms, but you can stay in the stable" (this before Pastor could read this part)
And then as the story finished, Ethan piped up with "What now Pastor John?"
Oh my, I was laughing so hard I was crying. I'm so glad we went. Ethan really understood the meaning of Christmas and the entire story around Jesus' birth.
After the service, we went back to Mike & Julie's for the adults to exchange gifts. We were to each bring a $20 gift and then we exchanged them "white elephant style." It was so fun. My gift was an apron I had made and a subscription to a magazine. Matt's was a SB card. I ended up with movie tickets and Matt ended up with a Leatherman Squirt. Very fun, I hope we do it again next year.
Then we made the hour drive to my parents where we quickly put out cookies and milk, sprinkled reindeer food and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (loved doing this with Mom and Summer as this has been a tradition in our family since I can remember). We stayed up awhile chatting before heading to bed a little before midnight.
To be continued on the Christmas Day post ;).
1 comment:
Sounds like a perfect Christmas Eve! So glad you had fun!
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