Christmas Eve

December 24, 2015

We had such a nice Christmas Eve.  It started with the twins reading the last scripture on this years countdown chart from The Friend.

   

Christmas Eve day is soooo long when you are 7.  Grace filled up time by sewing together a felt ornament.

She did a good job and it made the perfect topper for the kids tree in the family room.

Tenley spent the night and she played a lot of Slamwich with the kids.

I made gingerbread men this year instead of our traditional sugar cookies.  I loved them, but the kids voted for sugar cookies to come back next year. 

But those gingerbread men turned out so cute!

I found a reindeer made from a gingerbread man on Pinterest and Tenley got right to work recreating it.  I loved it!

I might have to make a batch of gingerbread for myself next year…

When the rest of the family arrived we ate dinner and watched last years Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas program.  We loved it as usual.  The kids look forward to this every year!

Then we acted out the nativity. 

Grace played the part of the angel perfectly by reciting the exact words without any promptings. 

The shepherd was impressed.

After the nativity we sang Christmas carols.  Isaac and Grace each played some songs for us to sing to.

We love celebrating such a sacred holiday with family.

Then it was time for the kids to open their Christmas Eve pajamas. 

It was a choose your own pajama adventure year for Emma and Grace.  They both had a few options to choose from. 

Grace chose the pink nightgown and was thrilled to have a matching one for her doll.  Isaac pretended to be a pirate the rest of the night in his pirate pajamas.

Love these kids!

Isaac and Grace then sprinkled reindeer food on our lawn.  They needed to be sure the reindeer led Santa to our house!

They also put out treats for Santa.

After everybody left we read one last Christmas story under the tree.  We were ready for Christmas morning!

Eddie the Elf’s Antics

Eddie the Elf was up to his usual Christmas antics.  He showed up on December 1st with a reminder of the true reason for the Christmas season.

Then he got busy being silly, here are a few of his tricks and hiding places.  He used Isaac’s glasses to read a book.

Buzz taped him up.

Isaac and Grace love it when he brings them lights and a tree for their room.  Eddie has a hard time putting those lights up nicely.  We give him a little help.

He’s always getting into snacks.

He made up for it though by sometimes bringing snacks for the kids.

He usually just finds fun places to hide.

Isaac and Grace filled out Elf Applications at school.  Eddie approved those applications.

One day he decided we all needed more facial hair.  Except Mom, who had a halo over her head…

He had time to play with some of the other toys.

All of his antics must have made him tired.

But on Christmas Eve morning he had one last trick up his sleeve.

Silly guy.