Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Christmas Eve Continues...


Christmas Eve was such a full day.  It is amazing how looking back on the day and working on this blog post is causing my heart to beat a bit faster.  A very light snow fell all day.  It made the day feel extra special! As I have been writing this post snow has been falling again and T commented "it looks like Christmas."  Indeed it does!  

As soon as the Christmas program was over I bolted home to get cooking.  I browned the meatballs and made the gravy and got it in the oven.  They need to cook for 2 full hours and our meal time is pretty strict due to the afternoon festivities.  Browning the meatballs took quite some time.  Thankfully there were many adults here to entertain the kiddos and help with the last minute meal prep.  

This year Charissa's kids went with their grandparents after the program so they didn't join us for the meal.  Having the program the same day meant that the sanctuary had to be reset for Christmas Eve.  It was nice for Charissa to have those hours before lunch to get everything ready for the 4:00 and 6:00 services. 

While I was in the kitchen, the kids were putting on costumes.  The girls mermaids also got into the make-up. 
3.5 and 5.5 and about the same size!

Cousin Lovin!!!

M: I protected the mermaids with my super powers!

After a round of dress-up it was time to wrestle and play with Uncle Bret... always a crowd favorite with this bunch!

M and T: We got to do this at Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!

We ended up eating about 12:30.  Thickening gravy without corn starch or flour is a trick for sure, but we managed and everything turned out tasty and almost all M friendly!  We had meatballs and gravy, mashed potatoes, my Grandma's corn and pickles, olives, sweet potato casserole that tastes like dessert, strawberry/avocado/spinach salad, watermelon, fresh pineapple and dessert.  My mom made cheese cake and pumpkin pie for M and I!  We all had happy tummies after eating!

Passing was tricky with the two girls sitting next to each other. 

The best meal of the year!!!

After the meal Brandon, David and Charissa scooted over to church to get ready for the services.   The kitchen was cleaned up and we had some extra time so we decided to go bowling.  The kids had fun together and my brother bowled a very good game.  M got to play the car game after we bowled.  Suddenly we realized we better head home quickly so we could get ready for the services!

T: Let me just try and program this...

T: It is hard to get things lined up!

M: It was fun to play the car game with Uncle Bret. 

The church was reset after the Christmas program and it looked beautiful!  

Almost like a cozy home. 
The other side of the stage

The service was lovely and impactful as always.  Everyone uses their gifts so beautifully as we celebrate the holy night. It was very special to have our family with us this year! After the services we took pictures as usual.  The kids are really into silly pictures right now.

Merry Christmas 2017!
Silly Christmas pose!

Silly Mother/Daughter pose. I was supposed to be a bunny.

My parents!  It was a blessing to have them share Christmas Eve with us!

Charissa and Shelly's kiddos... plus cousin A!

After the first service we came home and ate and then my family went back to the hotel and the kids and I went to the second service.  I was quite emotional during the service.  I was very thankful for our church family and the way we walk the journey of life and faith together.


T: L and I were totally over Christmas Eve!!!  

Once we got home we got the kids to bed and went into full-on work mode.  The house was a big mess and very disorganized.  Brandon had to build one of T's presents and much present set up needed to happen.  I had to figure out breakfast and clean up the house.  I also had to move all the gifts from my parents to the front room so that everything would be ready for the morning.  It was great to be able to spend time with Brandon post Christmas season craziness (from a work perspective).  We ended up staying up until 12:30!  Morning would come early... stay tuned!

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