The Eve of All Eves!

Kevin has been lucky enough to have the last 3 Christmas Eves off.  We started a tradition of going out to breakfast Christmas Eve morning.

  Perkins has been our restaurant of choice thus far.  They have some delicious breakfast options!  You definitely should try it some time.  

 Most of our girls have ordered "rainbow pancakes," but they are very generous in their portions, so they usually have not been able to finish them.  They decided to keep ordering them until they could finish it all.  This year they did it!  Everyone but Anna and Mari (who hardly ate a bite!) finished their whole plate of pancakes!  We rolled right out of the restaurant!

Kevin went to pay our bill when we finished eating.  He came back and said that the cashier told him an older gentleman had already paid for our meal!  I was very shocked.  We are not a particularly small group to pay for, mind you!  It was a wonderful Christmas surprise.  We decided to pass it on and paid for another family's meal.  It was fun to do and started our Christmas Eve off in the right spirit.

After breakfast we visited two widows in our ward, then headed home to make some cookies, prepare for our Christmas Eve program, and wait for the big guy to come!

Christmas Eve is fun and exciting, and a lot about Santa, but I like to have a large focus on Christ and the true meaning of Christmas.  It is such a fun, fun evening.  I love that my kids are old enough to have all the excitement and joy but still understand what it's all about.

After checking the Christmas pictures for the past several years, we were able to determine that Eliza was due for a turn being Mary.  (Good thing we have those old photos stored on the computer!  We could have started our nativity story in a less than loving mood!)

Natalia the angel brought some heavenly snacks to share with the shepherds--note the m&ms in her hand!

Mari was a very wise man, though she did not leave her crown on for long.  She is very modest and likes to blend in with the common folk!

  Since she couldn't be Mary, Madeline opted to be Joseph so she could still help out with the baby Jesus!

In a moment, Camilla the shepherdess will turn around and notice the star shining brightly behind her. 

                                     

Anna was a "wise donkey!"  Kevin and I got a good laugh out of that one.

Mari love the song "I Love to See the Temple" and can usually sing parts of it, but she was a little shy before her audience and just stood there smiling.  Still worthy of applause!

Natalia has been taking a break from piano, so she didn't have a Christmas song prepared, but she remembered one of her old songs "Monster Bus Driver," and played that for us.  It was inspirational!

 Camilla learned one of the songs I learned just a few years ago--a lovely version of the Carol of the Bells.  She did an amazing job!  When this girl likes a song, there is just no stopping her!

Anna sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and sparkled right along in her star shirt!

Eliza played "We Three Kings," a song that always makes me think of my dad as it was one of his favorites!

Madeline brought lots of joy with "Joy to the World."  I love Christmas eve programs!

 

I memorized the nativity story from the Book of Mormon and Bible this year and delivered it while all my daughters sat with rapt attention.  Okay, so not so much attention, but they did okay!

Kevin had not prepared a part for the program (I better remind him in advance next year!), but lucky for him, he's married to me!

I had us do a "chinigans" performance to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas."  It was a hit with the kids, but it was a little hard on the head/neck for the performers!  Totally worth it, though.

After the program, it was off to bed!  Luckily on Christmas Eve, the kids love to go to bed (not so much go to sleep and sleep in late, but still, going to bed is easy!).  Can't wait to see what awaits in the morning!