Christmas Eve

We had so much fun on Christmas Eve, which is a large part of my family tradition. Growing up (me that is) Christmas Eve day AND Christmas Eve have always been a special time for family and celebration. We have passed this tradition down to our kids and hope that they will always enjoy Christmas Eve as much as I did--and to which I have so many fond memories. We went to Aunt Amy's and Uncle B's for Christmas Eve day with Papa and ChaCha, and of course, Aunt Ali and Uncle Andy. It was a beautiful day and the kids played and played while we prepared yummy appetizers to snack on (this is definitely part of the tradition). After visiting, cooking and eating, we decided to have our gift exchange. The kids could not contain their excitement as they had to wait patiently for their turns to open gifts. It was such a fun time to watch the kids open their presents and be so excited! After the kids finished opening all of their loot, the adults had their turn. Side note from today....Aunt Ali and Uncle Andy have a precious new nephew and Aunt Ali showed Collin a picture of him. Collin asked her, "Is that baby Jesus?" I thought that was so sweet because we have really been trying to teach Reese and Collin that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that is what Christmas is all about. As we wrapped up the afternoon, Jeff, myself, Reese and Collin headed home to celebrate our own Christmas with just our family. Reese and Collin changed into their Christmas jammies and got comfortable. Jeff and I decided we would start a new tradition of reading The Story of Christmas, so we can teach R & C the reason we exchange gifts at Christmas time. We each give 3 gifts, to represent the 3 wisemen and hope that this will always be symbolic for Reese and Collin. We read the story, which the kids loved and then exchanged our gifts. After a little playing, we put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the Reindeer. Then we all anxiously waited to see if Santa would come........