We had a lovely Christmas Eve. After making a French Toast breakfast, we decided to open our Christmas Eve gifts in the morning instead of waiting until the evening so that the kids could actually enjoy them. The kids opened their presents to each other, which they'd all bought with their own money (except for Luke), and it was really sweet to see how excited they were to give their gifts and how much they enjoyed the gifts from their siblings.
After that we just hung out and played with new games and toys, took care of some last-minute items, delivered treats to neighbors, and then while Luke took his nap, Ben took the kids up to his office to play in the snow. It's located up high on a mountain and they have lots of snow so the kids loved it, even though it was only about 20 degrees. I cleaned and baked while they were gone. When Ben and The Bigs got home, we watched "Charlie Brown Christmas." Then Ben bathed the younger kids while Cat helped me get ready for our first-ever Bethlehem dinner. Cat vacuumed and put down a blanket and lit candles for us.
We had homemade pita bread with homemade hummus, olives, grapes, nuts with a nutcracker (the kids' favorite part), and goat cheese. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but hoped that the dinner would at least not end in disaster. It was actually really lovely. The atmosphere was perfect and the kids had enough things that they liked or were willing to try that they didn't get upset about the food. We just might try it again next year.
That night we had at least two kids still awake at 10:30pm, which is unusual for us, even on Christmas Eve. But eventually everyone went to sleep, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads, I'm sure.
So very sweet. What a precious memory for everyone.
ReplyDelete