And To All A Good Night

Normally we go to my cousin's house for Christmas Eve dinner, but due to scheduling conflicts we actually went last night, which gave us Christmas Eve just with us. It was perfect!

We started with our annual Jerusalem dinner- the girls were so excited.

The best part was I asked the girls what they learned about Christ, or what stood out for them about the life of Christ, from our Come, Follow Me scripture study this year. Claire shocked both Ben and I when she said, "This year, I feel like I really got to know Christ. I feel like he really came alive for me this year." WOW! She is definitely the one who fights us the most with Come, Follow Me- to hear her say those things was simply wonderful. It makes it all worth it.

 Then we did our annual "Sing A Story Christmas" where we read the story of Christ's birth intermingled with hymns.

Then opened up our traditional pajamas and read some Christmas picture books, including my favorite: Red Ranger Came Calling.

They insisted that Ben read them 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Caroling

A group of kids from church went to a local nursing home to go singing. It was a great and easy opportunity to do some service.

Family Photo

Hudson Gardens

Hudson Gardens is such a great place to go walk around- especially at Christmas time.

The Polar Express

A couple of months ago the girls decided they wanted to do a Polar Express Party. They made very detailed and very specific plans. The guest list was short, but very specific- they didn't want anybody coming who would talk during the movie and ruin the movie.

They wanted goodie bags for everyone who came- they made coloring books and gave everyone a ticket like in the movie.

It was fun to see them organize and execute their plan. It was definitely all them!

Trying to do our Traditions

We have a lot of little traditions surrounding Christmas, but truthfully: December went too fast! It has been a whirlwind to say the least. December has pretty much kicked my butt this year.

So, when I had to go do some things for Be About Bliss, I let the girls decorate the gingerbread houses without me. They were actually thrilled about the prospect of doing it on their own.

Then, finally we got around to seeing Christmas lights. We only went to a few houses, but we saw the Gingerbread House- our favorite:

Ugly Sweaters!

Ben had an ugly sweater work party, so we finally went out and got some!