Reminiscing
I kept thinking how different this Christmas Eve was from last year - I had just come home from the hospital with a newborn baby, and I remember feeling overwhelmed by Christmas Eve, and feeling grateful that though I was still pretty much out of it, Kevin and I were able to pull off that Christmas, and appreciated the quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with just our little family and our new little baby. It made me think a lot of Mary and how she must have felt just having a baby.
The kids opened their first Christmas present - new pajamas! My kids love Christmas pajamas so this is one of those Christmas eve traditions we like to keep. After tucking Zane in bed for the night, Andrea and I wrapped presents - Kevin and the kids watched a Christmas movie, though they kept knocking on the guest room door and wanting to peek and help. We also had a lot of fun memories putting a jeep together - that took us only an hour and a half. But lots of laughs along the way. The kids also rearranged the furniture in the family room to resemble a really LONG bed. They were ready to go to bed and sleep by our Christmas tree.
Maddie had very sticky hair on Christmas Eve - she got a hold of some good spray wax. Her hair had to be washed 10 times, with dish soap even, and it was still sticky.
Opening pajamas
See Maddie's hair - it is sticky as can be.
Explaining Santa
We had an almost unbeliever this year; This one needed more than just a brush off so this is how I did it: I explained the whole magical story of Santa and how the Santa spirit is alive because of all the millions of people who make it happen - I mean if you think about all the gifts and stockings being filled all over the world - you have to admit it is a pretty amazing thing; Santa is a symbol of Christmas, and the Santa spirit is real. But without those people/helpers/"elves", the magic of Santa is gone. However, that said, the TRUE Spirit of Christmas - which is Christ, is REAL. He lives, and unlike the Santa spirit, He is always there and is not dependent on any helper - He is as real as real can get. I left it up for her to decide what she thought of Santa. I kept asking her if she still believed because Santa only exists for the believers! She was still super giddy about where Santa was in the world, and was super excited about opening presents - so the Santa spirit lives on - though she may upgrade to a helper elf next Christmas.24 Days
We ended Christmas Eve with our last 24 Days of Christmas devotional - and hung the last ornament on the tree. We read Luke 2 and watched the birth of Christ videos shown at the First Presidency Christmas devotional. How grateful I am for the spirit that comes from learning about Christ - just not at Christmas, of course, but especially at this time of year. They all zonked out after that - what a perfect ending to an eventful day! Our house was quiet as a mouse by 12:30 a.m., it was unreal we got done that fast. The kids are sound sleepers - I got a few photos of them sleeping by the tree, and they had no idea I was even there! These are by far my most favorite Christmas pictures of all time:
Collin fell asleep watching the Christmas lights.
Maddie and Alli left Santa cookies and milk, and vowed to stay awake all night. Ten minutes later, they were out!
Collin's view. Oh the magic of Christmas!
Our tree before we all went to bed on Christmas Eve.
I love it when the only light comes from the Christmas tree.
How symbolic is that.
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