Twas the night before Christmas

Christmas Eve - the boys all dressed in their PJ's they just opened

This was our very first Christmas where we were actually home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I was tired of trying to pack Christmas around just to haul it back again. It was time to start our own traditions with kids old enough to get involved in it all. Tim wasn't completely sold on the idea, but he supported me in the plan and I'm so glad he did. It turned out so great!

I was most sad about missing out on the family celebrations leading up to Christmas. I figured we might feel pretty bored or lonely on Christmas Eve. Luckily, we have made some amazing friends here and they were staying home for Christmas too. The kids get along so well and we love hanging out with them! We decided to join forces and plan a fun Christmas Eve celebration. It was so much fun preparing for it and then the night was fabulous. There were four families that all got together. We prepared a fabulous dinner of Prime Rib, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, shrimp, appetizers, salads, drinks, desserts....and I'm sure I forgot other yummy things. It was so good!

After our feast, we helped the kids act out the nativity scene. I took a video of it all, so this is the only snapshot I have. Aren't they cute?

Then the kids did a little gift exchange. They had drawn names and bought a little gift for each other. They loved it. Then they all opened their Christmas Eve pajamas - luckily all four families have that same tradition so it worked out well.

It was such a fun night. I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with other families to keep things fun and exciting. After we had all played hard, we took our tired troops home to get ready for Santa to pay us a visit. We set out a plate of goodies - homemade by our neighbors that they had dropped by. Lucky for Santa since I'm not sure what he would have had as a snack otherwise.

The boys were very tired and fell asleep quickly!